Asian Games 2023: Saurav Ghosal falls short in squash men's singles final, wins silver

Ghosal has now medalled in every edition of the Asian Games since 2006 in men's singles.

India's Saurav Ghosal settled for the silver medal in squash after going down against Malaysian Eain Yow NG in the men's singles squash final at Asian Games 2023. Saurav, who has medalled in every edition of the Asian Games since 2006, went down 11-9, 9-11,5-11, 7-11 to claim his second Asian Games silver medal in singles after Incheon, 2014.

He had won the bronze medal in this event in 2018, 2010 and 2006. This was also Saurav's second medal in the ongoing continental event following the stunning gold medal win in men's team event.

Ranked just a rung below his opponent at World No. 19, Ghosal had won the last encounter against Eain Yow NG at the Paris Squash Open in September. He also entered the final having not dropped a game in any of his singles matches. The head-to-head record between them was also tied with one each. Yow Ng had won their meeting at the Singapore Squash Open in 2022. He again emerged victorious to clinch the gold medal.

In the first game, World No. 18, Eain Yow Ng initially took a strong lead at 6-1. However, Ghosal made a remarkable comeback, winning several quick points to level the score at eight all. Eventually, Ghosal managed to secure the first game in 22 minutes with a score of 11-9 but lost the second game 9-11.

Ghosal had a lead of 6-3 in Game two, but he couldn't capitalize on this advantage, missing the opportunity to take a 2-0 lead. The third game was dominated by Yow Ng, who established an early lead and won it 11-5 in fourteen minutes, forcing the match into a fourth game.

The trend continued in the fourth game as Ghosal struggled, and Malaysia's Eain Yow Ng emerged as the better player on the day, winning the fourth game 11-7 and securing a well-deserved gold medal. With this result, India missed out on its chance to claim a second gold medal in squash on the day.

Earlier in the day, Dipika Pallikal and Harinder Pal Singh Sindhu had defeated Malaysians Aifa Azman Binti and Mohammed Kamal Syafiq to win the mixed doubles gold.