ISC NEWS

SAURAV GHOSAL WINS TO THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE | 27th September 2015 | PICTURES
The crowd was a one-sided beast today, as hometown hero Saurav Ghosal (IND) played the final of the Kolkata International against Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY). Ghosal was on fire from the first serve, setting a punishing pace that had the bigger player scrambling to keep up. Ghosal was aided by a couple of strokes in the first game, and spent the next two keeping Elshorbagy from getting in his shots. It was a vicious circle. As Elshorbagy grew more frustrated, his game saw more errors, and while he gave Ghosal some trouble with his lengths, couldn't manage to get a rhythm going against the local favourite. So Ghosal took home his first 35k tournament win on home turf to uproarious applause, 11-7, 11-2, 11-7 in 43 minutes.

CHOPPINGER CHOPPED BY GHOSAL | 26th September 2015 | PICTURES
Saurav Ghosal (IND), playing on home turf at the Calcutta Racket Club, came to win tonight. The speedy Indian kept up a fast and furious pace that tired Stephen Coppinger (RSA) from the first serve. Ghosal played a beautifully error-free game, while Coppinger struggled with the tin. Coppinger, glued to the throughout, seemed to wake up to his last chance in the third game and, taking two match points off Ghosal, seemed poised for a comeback. But he couldn't keep up the play and Ghosal took the match 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 in 45 minutes to enter the Kolkata International final.
"Saurav was just too good today," Coppinger said. "I just couldn't make any headway today. He was good and he was good for the whole match."
"I know Cops is playing really well," Ghosal said. "He hadn't dropped a game yet in this tournament. He was cutting every ball off and setting a high pace. So I had to be really precise and keep the ball off his racket as much as possible. Happily, for me, I executed the plan all right. The scores don't suggest how hard the match was."

ELSHORBAGY HEADS TO TOP 10 AFTER BEATING SIMPSON | 26th September 2015 | PICTURES