National champion Saurav Ghosal kept the Indian challenge alive in the USD 35,000 CCI Open Squash Championships with a hard-fought 3-2 semi final victory over up and coming Egyptian rival Mazen Hesham here today.
The 29-year-old Indian, at a career-high 15 in world rankings and seeded no. 2 in this the second tournament of the JSW Indian Circuit, had to put his best foot forward against his 21-year-old rival, ranked 20th, before winning 11-7, 13-11, 9-11, 9-11, 11-8 in 89 minutes.
The Kolkata-born Indian ace will meet top-seeded Spanish rival Borja Golan in tomorrow's final.
Golan, world No 13, was leading 11-7, 10-8 against South African opponent Shaun Le Roux pulled out of their semi-final contest after an on-court injury when he and the Spaniard collided.
The Ghosal-Hesham match was expected to be a razor sharp contest and ultimately it proved to be after the Indian star, who has entered his third PSA tour event final in five months, took a commanding 2-0 lead.
The fight-back by Hesham, who rose to prominence in 2012 after securing his first PSA World Tour title at the NSC Sram Series No.3 in Kuala Lumpur, stunned the Indian and forced a deciding game.
It was fought tooth and nail before the ten-time national champion clinched it after a needle contest to enter the final at the Cricket Club of India's courts.
