Asian Games 2023: Ghosal progresses, Joshna bows out in singles

Saurav Ghoshal (Pic: @SauravGhosal/X)

Star Indian squash player Joshna Chinappa made a shock exit from the women's singles event but veteran squash player Sourav Ghosal sailed into the quarterfinals of men's singles at the ongoing Asian Games 2023 tournament on Monday.

Taking the court first, Chinappa lost 1-3 to lower-ranked Heo Mingyeong of South Korea in the pre-quarterfinals.

The 37-year-old, who received a first-round bye, went down 4-11, 12-10, 9-11, 8-11 in 37 minutes to the South Korean, ranked 158th, in the round of 16.

The result is a major upset as Joshna was a medal favourite.

The Chennai player had won a singles bronze in the 2018 edition.

She also has two silver medals and as many bronze in team events at the Asian Games, including the one she picked up in this edition last week.

She has been hit by injuries recently and lack of game time has pushed Joshna to as low as 70 in the world rankings.

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The other Indian who was in the fray, Tanvi Khanna, made a progress to the quarterfinals with an easy 11-1, 11-3, 11-2 win over Arichaya Chujit of Thailand.

The Indian mixed doubles pair of Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh continued its winning run to enhance its chances of making the quarterfinal.

The duo cruised to a 2-0 (11-5, 11-6) win over Thailand's Anantana Prasertratanakul and Arkaradet Arkarahirunya to stay on top in group D.

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Ghosal blanked Kuwait's Ammar Altamimi 3-0 in the round of 16, while Mahesh Mangaonkar also registered an easy 3-0 win over Ryunosuke Tsukue to progress into the quarterfinals.

While Ghosal defeated Altamimi 11-4, 11-4, 11-6, Mangaonkar edged past Tsukue 11-6 11-2 11-6 in another pre-quarterfinal match.

(With agency inputs)