Saurav Ghosal wins historic bronze medal in CWG squash
Birmingham, Aug 3: Breaking a long-standing jinx, Saurav Ghosal on Wednesday claimed India's first ever singles medal in squash -- a bronze -- at the Commonwealth Games here.
World No.15 Ghosal dominated the contest against England's James Willstrop from beginning to end, winning 11-6 11-1 11-4 in the bronze play-off.
It is Ghosal's second CWG medal, having won a mixed doubles silver with Dipika Pallikal in the 2018 Gold Coast edition.
The 35-year-old Ghosal proved too strong for his opponent as he outclassed the Englishman in all aspects of the game, from court coverage to placement of his shots.
Ghosal had lost the men's singles semi-final 3-0 (11-9 11-4 11-1) to New Zealand's Paul Coll.
Earlier in the day, the mixed doubles pair of veteran Joshna Chinappa and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu progressed to the pre-quarterfinals.
The immensely experienced Chinappa and her partner Sandhu downed Sri Lanka's Yeheni Kuruppu and Ravindu Laksiri 8-11 11-4 11-3.
The Indians were a bit shaky initially and ended up conceding the first game.
However, they quickly turned things around and made a strong comeback to bag the next two games without breaking much sweat.
Sunayna Kuruvilla also defeated Fung-A-Fat of Guyana in the women's squash singles plate final.
Sunayna downed her Guyanese opponent 11-7 13-11 11-2 in what turned out to be a comfortable victory for the 23-year-old squash player.
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Deve Gowda hints at NDA tie-up for local body, Panchayat polls
Bengaluru: JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda has indicated that the party is open to an understanding with the NDA in the upcoming local body, taluk and zilla panchayat elections.
Speaking to reporters at J.P. Bhavan on Wednesday, he said the JD(S) is a regional party, while the BJP is a national party. “We have to wait and see what decision they take regarding a pre-poll alliance. As far as local body elections are concerned, we will discuss the matter together before taking a decision,” he said.
Responding to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s allegation that the JD(S) does not give positions to anyone outside the family, Deve Gowda said the charge has no substance. “My memory is still strong. I will respond to everything at the appropriate time,” he remarked.
He also said that a JD(S) convention will be held in Vijayapura on February 27 and that he has been invited to participate in the event.
