MUMBAI: Saurav Ghosal made the biggest breakthrough of his career at the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. The 36-year-old former world No. 10 became the first Indian male squash player to win a singles medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Ghosal defeated 2018 CWG champion James Willstrop of England in straight sets to win the bronze medal. He later won another bronze in mixed doubles partnering Dipika Pallikal Karthik to add to the silver they had won in Gold Coast CWG four years ago.
Ghosal has many firsts in Indian squash, having won the gold in WSF World Doubles Championship with Pallikal. The Indian national champion for many years, Ghosal has been using Ultrahuman M1, a continuous glucose monitoring platform, to optimise his athletic performance, enhancing his strength and endurance by measuring glucose levels during his training.
Winner of a gold, silver and five bronze medals at the Asian Games between 2010 and 2018 and winner of five titles on the PSA Tour, Ghosal spoke to IANS in an exclusive interview about his success at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the future of Indian squash.
Excerpts:
Q: Now that so many days have passed, when did the enormity of your achievement at Birmingham CWG sink in?
A: I think everything that happened in Birmingham has probably sunk in over the last week. I just had some time to myself and I think it kind of sunk in at that time. Also, I am looking at new things to do now and I have new goals to achieve that I need to work towards. But, of course, Birmingham will always be very special. I will always cherish those memories and I will always be proud of what I achieved in those two weeks.
Q: Did you reach Birmingham expecting to win the first singles medal or were your hopes more in mixed doubles?
A: No, I definitely trained very hard leading up to the Commonwealth Games for the singles event as well. I knew I had a shot but I also knew that looking at the quality of the field, I had to produce some really good performance. I trained hard to win a gold but unfortunately, Paul Coll was a very strong opponent and some days you just have to hold your hand up and give credit to your opponent. But I am really happy with the way I came back after that loss and to produce a good performance in the bronze medal match against James Willstrop to win the medal for India.
So, no it’s not that I expected but that’s definitely something I was aiming for. It was one of my goals and it was really good that it transpired for me.
Q: Were you disappointed by the bronze in mixed doubles because only a few months ago you and Dipika were champions at the World Doubles?</…….