Saurav Ghosal bows out of New York tourney

Chennai, 26 Feb (UNI) National champion Saurav Ghosal, who made it to the main draw, bowed out of the Bear Sterns Tournament of Champions in New York losing to Olli Touminen of Finland 5-11, 3-11, 8-11.

The Bengal lad, settled here to train at the India Cements Squash Academy, had made it to the main draw defeating Chris Simpson and David Barnett of England in the qualifying rounds.

However, he faced a tough time against Touminen, ranked 18 in the world, a Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) press release said.

Cyrus Poncha, the national coach said Saurav, however, had the opportunity to play against some of the best squash players in the world.

''We are happy that he gave his best and entered the main draw. This holds out good prospect for his growth,'' he said.

This was for the second time that Saurav had made it to the main draw of a super series event after the Pakistan Open in November 2006. Saurav is the only Indian to have won a medal in Squash at the Asian Games in Doha in December 2006.

UNI