Watch: Saurav Ghosals bronze medal winning moment in CWG 2022

Indian ace Saurav Ghosal made headlines once again on August 3 as he became the country’s first-ever medal winner in singles squash at the Commonwealth Games 2022. The 35-year-old’s career has been full of firsts and while he won a silver medal in mixed doubles in the 2018 edition in Gold Coast, his squash singles medal is sure to go down in history.

Ghosal defeated England’s James Willstrop in straight sets (3-0) on Wednesday in the bronze medal match to achieve the feat. He defeated the Englishman 11-6, 11-1, 11-4 to clinch the bronze medal.

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Saurav Ghosal, who is often considered one of the greatest Indian squash players of all time, was defeated in the men’s singles semifinal by New Zealand’s Paul Coll on August 2. However, he fought back in the bronze medal match and ensured India’s 15th medal on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old squash player began his Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign impressively, as he defeated Sri Lanka’s Shamil Wakeel 3-0 on July 30 in the round of 32. He replicated his earlier performance on the very next day, beating Canadian David Baillaregon 3-0 on July 31 in the round of 16.

Ghosal continued his march towards the medal with a 3-1 win over Scotland’s Greg Lobban on August 1 in the quarterfinal, before bowing out against Paul Coll the next day.

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His bronze medal win means India has now won 15 medals in the Commonwealth Games 2022. It is also India’s fifth bronze medal after Gururaja Poojary (weightlifting), Vijay Kumar Yadav (judo), Harjinder Kaur (weightlifting) and Lovepreet Singh (weightlifting). He is also the only Indian squash player to have won a medal in the ongoing edition of the CWG.

However, Indian squash players are still in contention to win more medals at the mega event, including Saurav Ghosal. The 35-year-old, along with his teammate and sister-in-law, Dipika Pallikal, will compete in the mixed doubles round of 16 on August 4. Apart from them, the men’s and women’s doubles teams are also slated for their respective games in the upcoming days.