Egypt's world No3 Karim Darwish dashed hopes of local success in the Kolkata International when he defeated the Kolkata-born Indian number one Saurav Ghosal in the semi-finals of the PSA World Tour International 35 squash event at the Calcutta Racket Club in Kolkata.
Despite the distraction of the cricket world cup final, Calcutta Club regulars turned up as if bound by duty to support their fourth-seeded local hero in his match against the Egyptian favourite.
"Not that they had come there anticipating Ghosal to script the biggest upset of his career," said an event spokesman. "All they wanted to see was the boy, who they saw up learning the ropes here, put up a fight.
"Ghosal did not disappoint. And had the opening game ended up in his favour, then who knows?"
The 24-year-old world No23 matched Darwish shot for shot and, after trailing 0-3, caught up with the Egyptian at 7-7. Ghosal retrieved almost every ball with amazing agility.
Tied at nine-all, a 'stroke' went against Ghosal, and Darwish followed that up with a perfectly played drop to steal the first game.
Ghosal came back all guns blazing in the second and from 4-4 opened up a 10-4 lead. He kept the ball in play and mixed it up with a range of drops and boasts. Darwish helped Ghosal's cause with a couple of mistimed shots that hit the tin.
But, with the score poised at one game all and 2-2 in the third, Ghosal tripped on Darwish's heel and crashed into the wall, bruising his knee. The Indian star took a three-minute time-out to apply ice, but the break did not help his cause.
Darwish took full advantage and went on to claim the 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-4 victory in 54 minutes which took the 29-year-old former world number one into the 34th PSA Tour final of his career.
"I thought Ghosal likes to play in these conventional courts a lot better," said Darwish later. "I played him in Malaysia two weeks back in all glass and won it a lot easily."
Darwish will face second seed Omar Mosaad in an all-Egyptian final.
Mosaad did not break a sweat demolishing unseeded compatriot Karim Abdel Gawad 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 in just 28 minutes. The 19-year-old had no answer to Mosaad's precise cross-courts and scorching backhands.
Mosaad, the 23-year-old world No17 from Cairo who is celebrating his 14th Tour final, has met Darwish twice before - and will no doubt take heart from the fact that he won their last encounter, on home soil last year.
RESULTS: PSA International 35 Kolkata International, Kolkata, India
Semi-finals:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [4] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-4 (54m)
[2] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (28m)