Saurav Ghosal retires from professional squash, hopes to keep playing for India

Mumbai: When the issue came up at the end of squash competitions at the Asian Games in Hangzhou and after squash was confirmed to make its Olympic Games debut as a medal sport in Los Angeles in 2028, at the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai, Saurav Ghosal said he will take a final call on his career after consulting his family. Ghosal has achieved almost all the honours the sport had to offer and at 37 was facing the question that every sportsperson his age is asked — how long will he continue?

On Monday, India’s finest-ever squash player took a final call on his career and called it quits, announcing his retirement from professional squash at the age of 37 with a bag full of accolades. Ghosal was the trailblazer of Indian squash for a couple of decades and quits as one of the most successful squash players the country has ever had. The Kolkata-born Ghosal remains the only Indian man to reach the world’s top 10, achieving that career-high ranking in April 2019 and spending six months there.

“I am overwhelmed with emotions as I write this message. This sport has been my passion, my livelihood, and my identity for so many years. So, with a heart filled with pride and a tinge of sadness, I announce my retirement from the PSA,” wrote Ghosal in a post on his Instagram page on Monday.

Since making his debut on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour in 2003, the 37-year-old Ghosal has lifted 10 PSA titles, reached 18 finals and won 281 of his 511 matches on the Tour. Ghosal’s final – and joint biggest – PSA title came at the Malaysian Open Squash Championships in November 2021, where he beat Colombian top seed Miguel Rodriguez in the final.

Ghosal made his final appearance on the PSA Tour at the 2024 Windy City Open, in which he exited to USA’s Timothy Brownell in the last 64.

“These past 2 decades have shaped me as a person and I am eternally grateful for the opportunities I have had. I hope I have conducted myself with dignity and played the sport ‘the right way’,” wrote Ghosal about his career as a squash player. (IANS)

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