Saurav Ghosal, India?s No.1 ranked men?s squash player, has been quietly going about his training, during the coronavirus pandemic. Firstly on his physical fitness and then since the start of the last month, back on court on humid Kolkata evenings. ?Yes, I?m surviving at this time like everyone else,? Saurav Ghosal tells News18.com in an exclusive chat.
?I have been training since the lockdown but it?s mostly been physical stuff. I got back on court on the first of July. But I was purely just doing like solo hitting from the first of August, Ramit Tandon (India?s second-highest ranked men?s squash player) and myself, we?ve been playing together, practising together,? adds Ghosal. ?So yeah, so it?s been almost four weeks now and it?s been going on right. I mean, the weather is very, very humid in Calcutta. So we are trying to, you know, push through physically and mentally in a lot of ways to keep the quality up and well and I think there?s been a provisional calendar which has come out for the PSA as well. So we?re kind of trying to keep those events in mind and train towards that,? says Ghosal
The Professional Squash Association (PSA) had issued a provisional schedule for the return of professional squash for the first time since the PSA Tour was suspended back in March, with the Manchester Open, a PSA World Tour Silver event starting September 16.
With rising coronavirus cases in Kolkata, where Ghosal lives and is currently training, the pandemic had the squash star worried and concerned.
?I?ve been concerned about the situation since February when I was in Chicago playing Windy City Open. I mean, even when I?ve been in Calcutta, I literally sat in the house all day or I just wanted to go to the club but the club was shut. And I go to the grocery store like once in 10 days to get some stuff and that?s about it. If I would go out anywhere else and even go to the club, Ramit and I, we don?t touch (even) like the light. We use our rackets to switch on the lights and we don?t shut the door of the court completely so that we can open it with our shoes when we are coming out.
?I?m concerned not just about West Bengal, but in general you know. This is something which is not visibile so I want to know how you?re going to get it you know; what the consequences of getting it are going to be; it?s spreading very rapidly and the medical fraternity can?t get a hold on it, so it?s a big problem for the entire world. So yeah, I am concerned for sure. But you know, I still have to play the tournaments. So, I mean we try to minimise the risk as much as possible. I think we can?t eliminate it and until maybe they find a vaccine or you know, the right time to start dying out, but until then we just kind of minimise the risk as much as we can,? he adds.
When asked about participating in the upcoming Manchester Open for which he will have to quarantine in England as well, Ghosal said that he isn?t sure if he will be going at all and will take a call after assessing the situation.
?I?m not sure yet about Manchester. I?m going to probably decide in the next weekend or so, after that there is platinum events starting in Egypt in October and we are planning to go. We are contemplating whether to go or not. With the flight situation right now, it?s kind of just tedious to get to Manchester as well. So I just need to look at all of that and then take a call based on watch while putting myself in that vulnerable position, in the next 10 days or maybe I should hold out for a little bit longer and give it another month?.
When pushed on the possibility of losing ground in the race to the World Tour finals, as he currently lies 10th in the world, with the top 8 qualifying, the 34-year-old feels that one tournament will not end his chances.
?Manchester, I don?t know. I don?t think one tournament is going to make or break my season. So I don?t think that it?s a thing of course, if I don?t end up going, I think we have six events this season until December, which includes Manchester. So if I don?t play in a majority of those events, then of course that?s gonna take a hit on my rank. But I don’t think one tournament in Manchester is going to make much of a difference to my ranking,? says Ghosal.
?I don?t think that?s gonna make a massive difference really. So I?m going to be honest, I?m not really looking at it from that point of view at this point in time. I think it?s more about making sure that it?s safe enough. I mean, it?s interesting, I?m willing to take it, in 10 days, if I feel I have doubts in my head. I think maybe I?ll do it at the end of September when I need to go to Egypt. So I think that?s the major consideration. It?s not so much that it was. At the end of the day, if you play events, your ranking is going to go up. I?m past that stage when I would play one or two matches to accumulate points to protect my ranking. Doesn?t matter when I?m putting in the work. I?ve been telling the world, you know if I?m 14 (ranked), or if I?m 12 that sort of changes anything in my career. So I think it?s about winning events as much as I can,? he added.
Ghosal though has something more than squash and training in his near future. An eight-part web series titled ?The Finish Line?.
The show will document eight defining moments from Indian sports by recreating the moment by the actual athlete, with Abhinav Bindra?s Olympic Gold winning moment in 2008, Dinesh Karthik?s heroics at the Nidahas Trophy, Parul Parmar?s World Championship win in 2017 and Leander Paes? Bronze medal win in 1996 Olympics, among others. Viswanathan Anand, Pankaj Advani, Smriti Mandhana and Varun Singh Bhati round of the sportspersons, whose first-hand account will take us back down memory lane.
?I mean, I think the the exciting bit for me is that, you know, I?ve gotten to speak to like a fellow athletes who have done brilliantly for themselves and for the country in the past, and to kind of almost get into their heads a little bit to take them back into that space that they were in when crossed the finish line and won gold for India. Kind of understand their psyche and, and things like that. And, you know, like I?ve always said that you know, every individual is different and you the series, I think when you watch it, you will understand,? says Ghosal.
?Everyone has done it, you know, there are common threads running through their stories. But everyone has something which kind of like jumps out at you, which is slightly different. And that?s what makes them unique. And that?s what?s given them the success that they?ve had. So to kind of understand that is very like and I think in a lot of ways it is also reaffirming and reconfirming a lot of the things that I thought would be the case, but it?s been a fascinating journey to get to speak to all these people,? he adds.
When asked the ?very difficult question? of choosing his favourite from the list, Saurav Ghosal understandably was at a loss.
?I think I might have to go with Abhinav Bindra,? Ghosal says, reasoning that: ?When I speak to him generally as well, we have a good relationship. And every time I speak to him, I have learned a lot. And, you know, he?s someone who is very good at what he was, and he?s also very good, I think in terms of relaying his thoughts. So there?s a portion which you know, goes into his preparations for Beijing. And there is this really interesting bit where, I think normal people would think it was complete paranoia with the way he kind of prepared for it. But he kind of comes across it being very normal to him. And I think that is something that, I found after that episode. I?ve always known him to be a very articulate and meticulous about what he does. But after that, I had a bigger realization of, you know, what he?s done. And I think what it takes to be an Olympic gold medallist.?
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