NEW DELHI: It was curtains for India in the team squash events of the Commonwealth Games after fourth seeded pair of national champions Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa went down fighting to the Malaysians duo of Nicol David and Beng Hee Ong in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles category on Tuesday.
The Indian pair gave a glimpse of their fighting abilities before going down against the third seed Malaysian pair 5-11 11-7 7-11 in almost an hour contest at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.
The capacity crowd present at the all-glass court arena cheered relentlessly for the Indian pair, but that did not prove sufficient to raise the confidence of Ghosal and Chinappa.
The pair had claimed a place in the last eight of the Mixed event after a final qualifying round win over Scottish pair Frania Gillen-Buchert and Alan Clyne and a bye in the prequarters on Monday.
David, women's singles Commonwealth gold medallist, and Beng Hee had suffered the surprise early pool defeat against English pair of Sarah Kippax and Adrian Grant before bouncing back in the contest to reach the last eight stage.
"Both of us played well today but that was not enough to secure a win. Team events are altogether a different ball game. There were few things where we could have done better but we fell short of expectations today," said a disappointed Ghosal.
"There were some talks that Joshna did not play well today and committed few errors but she was not at all weak with her game. It's not that if I had played with Dipika (Ghosal's original partner in the mixed doubles), results would have been different. One need to understand Joshna's strength are different from that of Dipika.
"I don't want to use Dipika's excuse for losing the game. We played well but it was not our day," added the 24-year-old from Kolkata.
Malaysia's David said, "It's always tough to play against these guys. They are good and I had to pick my game up at several junctures. As part of the strategy, the Indians were attacking me and we were attacking Joshna.
"Joshna made few errors and we got few lucky points. Ghosal was great with his speed and angular shots. Overall it was a tough game," admitted David.
In the first game, the Malaysian pair was severly tested by the Indian duo, bidding to win country's first squash medal.
TOI
The Indian pair gave a glimpse of their fighting abilities before going down against the third seed Malaysian pair 5-11 11-7 7-11 in almost an hour contest at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.
The capacity crowd present at the all-glass court arena cheered relentlessly for the Indian pair, but that did not prove sufficient to raise the confidence of Ghosal and Chinappa.
The pair had claimed a place in the last eight of the Mixed event after a final qualifying round win over Scottish pair Frania Gillen-Buchert and Alan Clyne and a bye in the prequarters on Monday.
David, women's singles Commonwealth gold medallist, and Beng Hee had suffered the surprise early pool defeat against English pair of Sarah Kippax and Adrian Grant before bouncing back in the contest to reach the last eight stage.
"Both of us played well today but that was not enough to secure a win. Team events are altogether a different ball game. There were few things where we could have done better but we fell short of expectations today," said a disappointed Ghosal.
"There were some talks that Joshna did not play well today and committed few errors but she was not at all weak with her game. It's not that if I had played with Dipika (Ghosal's original partner in the mixed doubles), results would have been different. One need to understand Joshna's strength are different from that of Dipika.
"I don't want to use Dipika's excuse for losing the game. We played well but it was not our day," added the 24-year-old from Kolkata.
Malaysia's David said, "It's always tough to play against these guys. They are good and I had to pick my game up at several junctures. As part of the strategy, the Indians were attacking me and we were attacking Joshna.
"Joshna made few errors and we got few lucky points. Ghosal was great with his speed and angular shots. Overall it was a tough game," admitted David.
In the first game, the Malaysian pair was severly tested by the Indian duo, bidding to win country's first squash medal.
TOI
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