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Saurav Ghosal finds Paul Coll too hot, to battle for bronze
India’s seasoned squash player could not match New Zealand’s world No 2 in the men’s singles semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games
On paper it seemed a bit of a mismatch, the 35-year-old world no 15 Saurav Ghosal of India taking on the 30-year-old world No 2 and top seed Paul Coll of New Zealand.
But it was the match before the Indian took the court that gave the fans some hope. The women’s top seed Joelle King (NZ) lost to Hollie Naughton (Canada) 1-3. It could be a day for upsets. Or so we wished.
However, Coll was in no mood to play along as he served up a masterclass to demolish Ghosal in straight games 11-9, 11-4, 11-1 to advance to the final of the men’s singles event at the Commonwealth Games.
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Strangely enough, Coll seemed to start a little nervously. Ghosal, with small late wrist movements kept trying to send Coll the wrong way, but a couple of errors saw the Kiwi take a 3-2 lead. Ghosal’s tactics seemed spot on though. He was looking to be active in the front court and not looking to play the attritional back of the court game. It made for great viewing but it also reduced the margin for error.
To compound matters, Coll was hitting his marks and took a 7-3 lead.
Ghosal, however, didn't make it easy, bringing good attacking skills into the mix. The Indian was right in it until Coll, at full stretch, got a brilliant get to take the game 11-9 in 20 minutes. The only question now was whether Ghosal would be able to keep up this level of play. As things turned out, he couldn’t.
Coll put in a masterclass in length hitting in the second game, keeping Ghosal pinned to the back of the court. And that started to take a toll on the Indian, phsyically and mentally. The Kiwi looking every bit the world No 2 he is, took the second game 11-4.
The third game called for something special from the Indian. But instead, it was the Kiwi who delivered. Coll raced away, picking Ghosal off with ruthless efficiency to take a 9-0 lead before the Indian got his first point on the board. That, however, was just delaying the inevitable.
The Kiwi eventually took the game 11-1 to seal the game and the match.
Ghosal will now compete for the bronze medal in a match on Wednesday. He put on a pretty good show in the competition until he ran into the force called Coll.
