DOHA (Qatar): World No.13 Saurav Ghosal crashed out of Qatar Classic here on Monday after he lost to Germany’s world No.33 Raphael Kandra.
Kandra won 10-12, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 with the Indian star struggling with an injury towards the end of the match.
The German was 8-6 down in the first but managed to claw his way back into the game to hold two game balls. A lengthy rally with some sublime retrievals on show from both players saw Ghosal save one of those game balls before an error from Kandra allowed the Indian to draw back level and then go on to close out on the tie-break to take the lead.
“I’m relieved,” said Kandra after the match. “I’ve been waiting for those moments where you are kind of getting into the flow and trying to play your best. Today, there were a lot of patches during the match where I thought ‘ok, this is how I want to play’ and this is how I train to play.”
Ghosal started the second well and built up a healthy lead at 9-6 before Kandra managed to switch momentum in his favour and went on a run to take five points in a row and level with the second game.
A groin injury looked to be causing problems for the 34-year-old in the third as Kandra rattled off the points quickly to take a 2-1 lead.
“Altogether this is definitely not how you want to win. Of course, he played on and he was still kind of moving but wasn’t at his best and I wish him a quick recovery, he probably has time now since COVID-19 is kind of taking us back. Overall, I’m super happy – third round, it has been a while and I’m really looking forward to continue,” added Kandra.
(With inputs from PSA)
