Commonwealth Games 2018: Saurav Ghosal’s ranking boost gets him third seeding

India’s top squash player Saurav Ghosal has got a timely boost ahead of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2018 as he moved to 13th in Professional Squash Association’s World Tour Rankings.

The ranking boost will put Ghosal as the third seed for the men’s singles draw with New Zealand’s Paul Coll and England’s Nick Mathews, the top two seeds respectively. College moved up two places to ninth in the rankings, making him the top-ranked male player in the Commonwealth. Mathews, a three-time World Champion slipped out of top 10 to 12th position.

Ghosal, the 31-year-old from Kolkata, will thus go into the competition in a positive frame of mind. His highest ranking so far was 15 that he achieved in May 2014 and had slipped down from there. But consistent performances in recent months resulted in the Indian inching closer towards a spot in the top 10. Ghosal, the 12-time Indian national champion, had narrowly missed a bronze medal in the 2014 edition in Glasgow. He is brimming with confidence and wants to make his presence felt, having missed out on a medal in the previous edition. His results on the PSA Tour have been consistent and with the top-ranked Egyptians not part of the Commonwealth Games, Ghosal stands a good chance this time.

In the women’s section, Joshna Chinappa was ranked 14th in the world and along with Dipika Pallikal Karthik, ranked 18th, will be hoping to defend the gold medal they won in Glasgow. However, they are likely to face tougher competition than the last edition. Seeded third, they are in Pool C and face a tricky encounter against sixth seeded Tensi Evans and Deon Saffrey of Wales.

Ghosal and Dipika will be among the contenders in the mixed doubles event too for which they are seeded fifth.