Saurav Ghosal (born 10 August 1986, in Kolkata, West Bengal) is a professional squash player from India and reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 10 in April 2019. He won the first ever medal in Squash for India at the Commonwealth games. He was the national champion in 2020 by winning 77th National Squash championship.[1]
Saurav moved to Chennai after completing his school and was based at the ICL squash academy in Chennai and coached by Major (Rtd) Maniam and Cyrus Poncha in Chennai, India. Currently based in Leeds, he trains with Malcolm Willstrop at Pontefract Squash Club in West Yorkshire. Saurav is the current Indian national champion after he defeated Gaurav Nandrajog at the National Championships 2006 in New Delhi. As of May 2010,[update] his PSA world rank is 27. In the top 100 in the world are two of his Indian Squash Colleagues Siddharth Suchde (80) and Harinder Pal Sandhu (90).
Saurav won the bronze medal at the Asian Games 2006 Doha and was awarded the Arjuna Award by the President of India in August 2007, thus becoming the first squash player from the country to get the award.
Saurav started playing squash in his hometown of Kolkata, at the Kolkata Racquet Club. He studied from the Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, before moving to Chennai to join the ICL Squash Academy. Here he was coached by retired Major Maniam and Cyrus Poncha.
Ghosal has numerous firsts to his credit, the first Indian to be ranked junior World No one, the first to bag the junior National championship three years in a row and in December 2006, he won the country the first medal in squash in the Doha Asian Games. His first major title was the German Open (U-17) in May 2002 and he won the Dutch Open two months later.[3]
In 2013, he became the first Indian squash player to reach the quarter-finals of the World Championship. In 2014, he won the silver medal (individual singles) in the 17th Asian Games at Incheon. He was the first Indian squash player to do so. He lost in the final to Abdullah Al-Muzayen of Kuwait. He however led the Indian Squash team to its first ever Gold Medal at Incheon. In the final he bounced back from a game down to eke out a 6-11 11-7 11-6 12-14 11-9 win over former world no. 7, Ong Beng Hee in a gruelling 88-minute clash to give India a healthy 2-0 lead [4]
Ghosal also remains the first Indian player to claim a place in the world’s top 10 during the 2018-19 campaign.
Saurav Ghosal has been named as the Professional Squash Association’s (PSA) Men’s President as one of three new additions to the PSA’s Board of Directors, which were officially confirmed at the association’s annual AGM on Wednesday December 22, 2021.[5]
In August 2022, Ghosal became the first Indian men's squash singles medallist at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games after he beat 2018 reigning champion James Willstrop of England in straight sets in the bronze medal playoff to take the bronze medal. He defeated Shamil Wakeel of Sri Lanka 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 in the second round, beat David Baillargeon of Canada 11-6, 11-2, 11-6 in the third round. In the quarter-final, he recovered from a defeat in the second set to see off Scotland’s Greg Lobbon 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 11-3 before falling to New Zealand’s world no. 2 and eventual gold medallist Paul Coll 9-11, 4-11, 1-11 in the semi-final.
Joshna Chinappa is an Indian professional squash player. She reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 10 in July 2016. She was the first Indian to win the British Junior Squash Championship title in 2005 in the under-19 category and was also the youngest Indian women's national champion. She is the current record-holder of most national championship wins, with 18 titles. In 2024, she was awarded India's fourth-highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri, by the Government of India.
Cyrus Poncha is an Indian squash administrator and coach. Born in Mumbai, he is currently based out of Chennai, and coaches at the ICL-TNSRA Squash Academy. Presently, he is the Secretary General of Squash Rackets Federation of India. He is a Dronacharya Awardee. He was adjudged Asian Squash Federation Coach of the Year six times. He has coached several squash players such as Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal Karthik, Saurav Ghoshal and Velavan Senthilkumar.
Indian Squash Academy is a squash training facility established by the Squash Racquets Federation of India (SRFI) in Chennai, India. The India Cements was one of the sponsors it had initially sponsored the 1990 facility along with the Tamil Nadu Squash Racquets Association (TNSRA). It has trained several squash players such as Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinapa, Dipika Pallikal and Manish Chotrani.
Ritwik Bhattacharya is a squash player from India.
James Willstrop is an English professional squash player from Yorkshire.
Dipika Pallikal is an Indian professional squash player. She is the first Indian to break into the top 10 in the PSA Women's rankings.
Mohamed ElShorbagy is an Egyptian-English professional squash player. He represented Egypt from a young age until June 2022, when he switched to represent England. He reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 1 in November 2014, March 2018, February 2020, and again in July 2021 and was the 2017 World Squash champion.
The Squash Rackets Federation of India or SRFI is the Indian governmental apex body for the game of squash. It conducts the National Squash Championship, and promotes the game through the state level squash bodies, and provides training facilities and selects the squad for the Indian team. It also chooses coaches for the national team.
Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu, known as Harinder Pal Sandhu, is an Indian professional squash player. He reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 47 in April 2018.
Lakshmi Shruti Settipalli is an Indian squash player. She was ranked 30 in the junior European circut at the end of 2012. She played as a professional when she was seventeen, achieving a world ranking of 145 in August 2013.
Squash is a popular recreational sport in India and it is gaining popularity as a competitive sport. It is governed by the Squash Rackets Federation of India. The India men's national squash team has participated in three quarter finals of the World Team Squash Championships since 1967.
The Squash at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held at the Scotstoun Sports Campus, Glasgow. Singles play took place from 24 July to 28 July.
The Mixed doubles event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games was held at the Scotstoun Sports Campus, Glasgow from 29 July to 3 August.
Kush Kumar, is a professional squash player who represents India. Kush Kumar graduated with a finance degree Trinity College. Kumar now works for a hedgefund called Matrix Capital Management based in Boston. He reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 89 in August 2015. He became popular when his Men's Squash Team won Gold Medal in 2014 Asian Games along with Harinder Pal Sandhu, Mahesh Mangaonkar, Saurav Ghosal.
This article lists the results for the sport of Squash in 2017.
The Men's singles Squash event of the 2018 Commonwealth Games was held at the Oxenford Studios, Gold Coast. Singles play took place between 5 and 9 April. Englishman James Willstrop won gold after beating Paul Coll of New Zealand in straight games, 11-9, 11-4, 11-6.
The Mixed doubles Squash event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games was held at the Oxenford Studios, Gold Coast from 10 to 14 April.
The 2018–19 PSA Men's World Squash Championship was the 2018–19 men's edition of the World Squash Championships, which serves as the individual world championship for squash players. The event will take place in Chicago, United States from 23 February - 2 March 2019.
Tanvi Khanna is an Indian female professional squash player and is a regular member of the Indian squash team. She is currently ranked 69 in International rankings and is regarded as one of the finest squash players to have emerged from India. She was ranked as women's no.1 squash player in September 2023. She also plays for Columbia Lions squash team which belongs to the Columbia University. She achieved her highest PSA world ranking of 86 in September 2021 and broke into the top 100 for the first time during the 2019-20 PSA World Tour.
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