Squash star Saurav Ghosal made history on Saturday as he became the first Indian to win the Malaysian Open Championships after beating Miguel Rodriguez in the men's singles final.
The second-seeded Ghosal, often regarded as the face of Indian squash, outclassed top seed Rodriguez of Colombia 11-7, 11-8 and 13-11 in 55 minutes to become the first from his country to be crowned champion at the prestigious tournament.
"Obviously it feels great. I beat some good players along the way," said Ghosal, who did not drop a single game during his title-winning run in Kuala Lumpur.
"The final was a high-quality match. As much as the third game, the second was tough too as I was trailing 0-7. The victory is a reward for all the hard work I've put in," the 35-year-old world No. 15 added.
Ghosal had defeated V Crouin of France 3-0 in the semifinal after crushing L Serme and M Gamal by the same scoreline in the quarterfinals and pre-quarterfinals respectively.
Ghosal's runners-up performance in the 2003 edition was India's previous best result in men's singles while Bhuvneshwari Kumari's runners-up finish in 1981 is still the highest that the nation has achieved in the women's singles event in the tournament.