Saurav Ghosal

India's top two stars, Saurav Ghoshal and Ritwik Bhattacharya had mixed fortunes on the national circuit. Saurav won the Nationals in Ritwik's hometown Delhi. Ritwik, however, won the Golcha Rajasthan Open in Jaipur. In both finals the bridesmaid was Gaurav Nandrajog. Both the Indian stars knew how tough life is in the world market. Both lost in the first round qualifying to local Egyptians at the World Open in Cairo. Next up is the Doha Asian Games in Qatar. A medal in Doha will ensure that squash players get on the government's radar, and all will benefit from it. During the Nationals the two stars spoke to Times correspondent Mandakini Raina. Excerpts from the interview:

One more National crown for Saurav Ghoshal. Of course he must thank Gaurav Nandrajog for getting his arch-rival Ritwik Bhattacharya out of the way. But relations between the two are the best.``There is no big rivalry between us. We share a healthy relationship and I respect Ritwik for his achievement. The point is that even if Ritwik stops playing, or doesn't break into the top 10 or 20, his biggest achievement will still be that of making the impact he has on the professional tour,'' says Saurav.

It was at a national championship in Kolkata that Saurav discovered squash, through Ritwik. A little less than a decade later, he doesn't just cheer on from the sidelines but matches shots and poses as his strongest challenger. Saurav has shifted like Ritwik to train in the U.K. Says he about the change:``Before I went to train and study at Leeds I knew I was quick. A year now into training, my techniques and shot selection have improved. There is substance to my game; my whole game is measured, my swing has changed, there is more variety to my shots. And now if I lose, I can analyse as to what went awry,'' he discloses.

Interaction with the greats of the game has meant a change.``Willstrop believes in discipline, of the mind as well. He's made me learn to think my game out. I'm not arguing with the umpires anymore. Even at the World Open qualifier, I kept my cool, laughed an incident off.''

One step closer to top-10 by 2010 then, a goal he'd made public not too long ago? ``Realistically, I know I still can't take a set off the top 20 yet. But the gap is bridging, slowly, surely. By 2007 I hope to break into the top 30,'' Saurav says.

Ritwik, responsible partly for rescuing the sport from obscurity, hopes the learning by trial and error ends here and now. ``When I started off the infrastructure wasn't in place, I wasn't even thinking of the international circuit. But having gone through the grind, one only hopes belief remains in the sport. We need coaches and structures put in place. Instead, what we have is a disjointed set-up where accessibility is poor,'' Ritwik rues.

His short-term goal is to break into the top 30 by the end of the year thereby grabbing the chance to play the best at every event. ``It's one thing to watch from the outside, another to play against them and know what you are up against. You could clay court all you like but you have to play on grass to know how to play on grass, don't you,'' he explains. But being the `path-finder' one can only do so much.

Source : http://www.worldsquash.org/ 

Page No. [ 1 |  2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7  |  8  | 9 | 10  |  11 | 12 ]