Coach expects Saurav Ghosal to be among top 10 players

Chennai, Dec 21 (UNI) Saurav Ghosal became the first Indian to win a Bronze medal in Asian Games at Doha and his Malaysian coach S Maniam believes that his ward has it in himself to be one of the top 10 players.

Currently ranked a career high 49th, Saurav beat compatriot Ritwik Bhattacharya in the quarterfinals in Doha and lost his semifinal match to much higher ranked Malaysian champion Beng Hee Ong to finish with the Bronze.

The Squash Rackets Federation of India today felicitated Saurav here today and Consultant Coach to the SRFI Major (Retd.) S Maniam said, ''Saurav has had a remarkable career this far with a string of international titles and numerous awards. Having worked closely with him before, I certainly believe he has it in him to be a top 10 squash player in the near future.'' Government of Tamil Nadu also gave Saurav Rs.10 lakhs for his outstanding performance in the Doha Asian Games while ICL Squash Academy, an initiative of SRFI, gave Saurav Rs.2.5 lakhs.

Saurav has had an excellent year not only with the medal at the Asian Games but he has moved up the world rankings to finish the year with his best ever rank of 49. This year he won his first Professional Squash Association tournament, regained the national championship and is also the reigning British Universities champion.

Recollecting his moment of glory, an exhilarated Saurav said, ''I am absolutely overjoyed with this result.'' After schooling, Saurav had joined the SRFI team and trained under Major Maniam and national coach Cyrus Poncha from year 2002 to 2005.

In 2004 he was ranked as the World No.1 Junior after winning the Drysdale Cup (British Junior Open under-19) and also won the national men's championship and reached the finals of the World Doubles Squash Championship along with Ritwik Bhattacharya.

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