Indian top seed Saurav Ghosal stayed in the hunt for a squash gold as he stormed into the final of the men’s singles while compatriot Dipika Pallikal settled for the bronze at the 17th Asian Games here Monday.

 

 

 Whichever the medal, Ghosal, who overcame Malaysian Ong Beng Hee 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 in the semi-finals, will have the distinction of being the first Indian squash player to achieve this feat at the Asiad.

 

 World No.16 Ghosal will meet Kuwait's World No.46 Abdullah Al Muzayen in the gold medal contest Tuesday. The Kuwaiti won 3-2 (6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6, 11-8) in the other semi-final against Max Lee of Hong Kong.

 

 Ghosal played with a lot of fire and purpose against Ong. The Malaysian is seeded lower and the Indian’s win seemed in order but Ong is a player of great potential.

 

 Ghosal had lost to him in the Asian Team Championship earlier and knew for sure that Ong’s strength was in the forecourt particularly in the left corner. Ghosal kept playing him to the back and after some time the Malaysian seemed to tire and run out of ideas.

 

 Meanwhile, Dipika settled for the bronze in women’s singles after going down to the top seed and World No.1 Nicol David of Malaysia 4-11, 4-11, 5-11.

 

 Dipika had put in her best but the Malaysian opponent was a class apart and that became crystal clear in the outcome of the contest.