Saurav Ghosal advanced to the main draw of the British Open Squash Championships after a straight-game victory over Australian Aaron Frankcomb in the finals of the qualifiers at Manchester.
The reigning national champion beat Frankcomb 11-7, 11-8, 12-10 in a 55-minute contest at the British National Squash Centre to become the lone Indian to make the main draw of the prestigious event which has a combined prize money in excess of USD 100,000.
The 21-year-old has a tough challenge on hand as he takes on eighth seed Australian Stewart Boswell in the opening round of the main draw later this evening.
"I came back to court only on September 1 after recovering from the thigh strain but I have started playing proper squash and move the ball around," Ghosal, who was recently conferred the Arjuna award, said after the match.
However, the other Indians in the fray failed to get through with Ritwik Bhattacharya and Joshna Chinappa crashing out in various qualifying stages.
Bhattacharya was outplayed 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 by Italian Davide Bianchetti in the qualifying finals.
Chinappa stumbled in the very first round of qualifications, losing to local favourite Fiona Moverely 9-7, 9-4, 9-1 in 24 minutes.
