Yesterday morning, Amr Shabana must have been thinking that he probably would have a pretty easy task in beating India No 1 Saurav Ghosal.
Yesterday morning, Amr Shabana must have been thinking that he probably would have a pretty easy task in beating India No 1 Saurav Ghosal. But the picture was completely different in the evening at the picturesque Bombay Gymkhana. The Egyptian had to strain every sinew to eventually eke out a pulsating 11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 12-10 victory to move into the quarter-finals ofu00a0 the USD 152,000 Punj Lloyd PSA Squash Masters.
The threeu00a0 referees at timesu00a0 made controversial calls especiallyu00a0 in the fourth game. One such call awarding a 'stroke' to Shabana when it should have been a 'let' led to Shabana moving to match ball, which he gleefully converted.
Saurav Ghosal was bitterly disappointed after the defeat. "I came so close, it was just a matter of few points,'' he said. The smile though was back on his face when asked to pick a winner at the 2011 FIFA World Cup. "I'd say it will be between Brazil, Portugal and England. I only fancy the Portuguese because of Ronaldo. He's a fantastic player," he said.
