Manchester: Saurav Ghosal scripted history at the World Squash Championships as he became the first Indian to reach the quarter-finals of the mega-event by notching up a come-from-behind victory over Henrik Mustonen in a hard-fought contest here.
The World No. 17 Ghosal played out of his skin to stretch the unseeded Finn in a tough pre-quarterfinal that the Indian won 3-2 under considerable pressure. "For me it's a massive achievement. It's the first time I've made it to the quarter-finals of the World Championship and it's huge to be in there in the last eight with the world's best players," a delighted Ghosal said.
"I've made it one step further than I have before so I'm going to enjoy it - but I will be coming back tomorrow and hopefully I can play another good game and give myself a chance of progressing even further," he added.
The 27-year-old Kolkata-born was down 0-2 against his lesser-known opponent but the Leeds-based player showed his class when it mattered the most and upped the ante in the second half of the match to close out the issue 5-11 8-11 11-8 11-4 11-2.
"Henrik played unbelievable squash in the first two games," said Ghosal.
"Actually he was match ball down in his first round match and came back to win it - that shows how strong he is mentally.
"He really caught me off guard with the quality of his shots. I had to dig in super super super deep to grind out of that one, said Ghosal, who is widely regarded as one of the fastest players in the Tour," he added.
The eventual scoreline hardly did justice to the incredible performance from the Indian in the first two games. Ghosal matched his opponent stroke for stroke in the third game with the players feeling each other out.
"The World Championship is a massive competition and a very prestigious title. It's a title every squash player dreams of winning and I'm delighted to go one step closer towards that dream," Ghosal said.
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