After scoring an upset win in the second round of the PSA World Squash Championship here, unseeded Saurav Ghosal feels that his success will do a world of good to the promotion of the sport in the country.
Ghosal, who made history last year by becoming the first Indian ever to make the last 16 of the World Championship, faced 15th seed Alister Walker, the world No.15 from Botswana whom he had never beaten before.
The 27-year-old defied the world rankings at the National Squash Centre - and denied his opponent a place in the last 16 for the first time in six years - by beating Walker 11-7 11-5 7-11 11-7 in 55 minutes.
"In my view, I'm not only doing it for me, but it's also for India - for all those players that are coming after me. If my results can help and popularise the sport, then the impetus will carry on, and maybe one day, we'll have 15 Indian players in the main draw of the World Championships," said Ghosal.
Asked if he felt he could push through and make the last eight for the first time, Ghosal responded: "If I am able to do so, it would be huge for India. Dipika (Pallikal) was the first ever to reach the quarters, but never had a male player reached that stage."
Asked about his win over Walker, Ghosal said he played a tactical game to enhance his own strengths and exploit his opponent's weaknesses in order to gain advantage.
"I'm happy to win. I played well in the first two games, I was controlling the pace and trying to make him play in my strength," he said.
"In the fourth, he had the confidence after winning the third. But I got it back and went 7-2 up. It was a hard battle to try and close it off," he added.
Ghosal, the world No 17, will line up against fellow non-seed Henrik Mustonen, the 22-year-old Finn who celebrated his first ever appearance in the second round with a shock victory over England's No 7 seed and former semi-finalist Peter Barker.
