India bow out of WSF Men's World Team Squash Championship

India's campaign in the WSF Men's World Team Squash Championship came to an end on Friday when they went down to top seed Egypt 0-2 in a hard-fought quarterfinal in Mulhouse, France.

Harinder Pal Sandhu and Saurav Ghosal played out of their skins to stretch the title favourites.

Sandhu was first up against former World no.1 Karim Darwish and the Indian matched the reigning Kuala Lumpur and Macau Open champion stroke for stroke in the opening game.

However, Darwish used his experience and superior craft to retrieve Sandhu's best attacking strokes and adapted to the conditions well to seal the game.

Darwish raced away with the next two games for a loss of six points in total.

Ghosal put on a lion-hearted performance that won over the crowd against World no.1 Ramy Ashour. Ghosal managed to step up several levels to match and trouble Ashour in a match that could have gone either way.

Ashour found it hard to shake off Ghosal, but ultimately won the opening game 11-7.

In the second game it was Ghosal who was winning the big points. However, Ashour fought back and manged to win the game 11-9.

Ghosal rushed off into an early lead in the third and his perseverence finally paid off, winning the third game 11-4.

Ghosal continued his aggressive style in the fourth game and was leading 7-4 when Ashour felt a niggle on his ankle and ask for a 3-minute injury break. He returned after medical attention and went on to lead 10-8.

Ghosal managed to pull it back to 10-10 and had a game point at 11-10. But Ashour managed to close out the match in four games.

"Ramy is so unbelievably good - and at the same time so random. That's what makes him so special," Ghosal said after the match.

"I was about 8-4 up in the second and should have won it. But the trouble with Ramy is that he can reel off points so quickly - and that's what he did. I played really well in the third and he dropped off a bit towards the end. In the fourth Ramy had match balls at 10-8 - then I had a game ball at 11-10. But he played a great shot to win the match.

"But I'm very happy with my performance - even though disappointed not to take the second," added the Leeds-based player.

"I'm not saying I could have won it - but I would like to have taken it to a fifth. It's like playing a world championship home from home as Mulhouse is the team I play for in the French league - so it's always good to be back here. But it's the first big tournament I've played in France - it would be good to have a PSA tournament here. I love France," said Ghosal.