Mumbai: In the course of his fourth recreation on the PSA World Championships on Sunday, Ali Farag turned to his coach Karim Darwish and “asked him if I was playing against Ramy Ashour!”
Veer Chotrani. (Insta)
Ashour is thought to be among the many biggest squash gamers ever. Farag, although, was enjoying Indian qualifier Veer Chotrani. Farag is the highest seed chasing his fifth Worlds gold. Chotrani, ranked 57, has one match victory on the Worlds. The unfancied Indian took the primary recreation, ran him shut within the second and led 10-8 within the fourth. Farag’s expertise and sophistication although made the distinction in the long run as he got here by way of 7-11, 11-7, 11-3, 12-10 in a second-round contest that was a mismatch on paper however hardly so on the court docket.
“I told him (Chotrani) after the match that I’ve not been outplayed like that in a long time,” Farag advised PSA.
The defeat, preventing because it was, mirrored the present gulf between a few of the world’s prime squash professionals and the Indian challengers. Ramit Tandon, India’s top-ranked professional, overcame a two-game deficit to tug world No.7 Marwan Elshorbagy into the decider but misplaced September 11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8, 8-11. Teen Anahat Singh took a recreation off Fifteenth-ranked Egyptian Fayrouz Aboelkheir however went down 7-11, 11-8, 4-11, 3-11. Abhay Singh was additionally overwhelmed by world No.13 Youssef Ibrahim of Egypt 11-6, 11-6, 11-9.
That delivered to an finish India’s marketing campaign in Chicago that started with two debutants in Anahat and Chotrani upsetting seeds and 4 Indians advancing however ended quickly operating into top-15 opponents.
For the skilled Tandon, it was one more exit earlier than making the Spherical of 16 whereas for Anahat and Chotrani, it was a firsthand expertise of top-level squash. Anahat, who may even flip up on the junior World Championships this yr, hadn’t competed with gamers of this caliber but. This is not going to solely give the 17-year-old a glimpse of the problem forward in her professional profession but in addition the work to be achieved.
Chotrani, 23, got here into his Worlds solely by advantage of profitable the Asian qualifying match and with a nothing-to-lose angle. The Cornell College graduate knocked out world No.28 Declan James earlier than giving Farag the form of battle few have managed to present him in latest occasions.
“I was on the receiving end in that fourth game and for most of the first game and a half too,” Farag stated. “All credit to him and I’m very proud to get through. He lived in Egypt for a bit back in the day and I played with him when I was younger. I followed him a little bit at Cornell, but I wasn’t watching him… He was consistent too, I thought a few winners would come off and then he would hold back a little bit, but he never did.”