Asian Games: Saurav Ghosal seeded 2nd in squash draw, India top seed in men’s team event

Hangzhou: India's Saurav Ghosal has been seeded second in the men's singles squash competition at the Asian Games in Hangzhou while the team spearheaded by the India No.1 has been given the top billing for the men's team competition.

Ghosal earned the bronze medal in the Asian Games in 2018 in Indonesia.

During the 2014 Asian Games, the 37-year-old Ghosal had finished second.

The competitions in Hangzhou start on September 26 while the final will be played on October 5. In the 26-player men's singles competition, Malaysian Eain Yow Ng is the top seed.

Placed in the bottom half of the draw, Ghosal received a bye in the first round, and with take on Kuwait’s Ammar Al-Tamimi in the second round. He is likely to face Japanese 5/8 seed Ryunosuke Tsukue in the quarterfinals and Tsz Kwan Lau of Hong Kong, China, in the semifinals.

Ghosal, who is the first Indian man to enter the top of world rankings, also won a historic bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games last year.

In women’s singles, placed in the top half of the draw, India's fifth-seeded Tanvi Khanna and eighth-seeded Joshna Chinappa, who won an individual bronze in 2018 and two silver medals in the team events in 2014 and 2018 editions, will be eyeing to reach the latter stages of the event.

The 20-player field is led by Japanese player Satomi Watanabe, ranked as the No.1 seed.