Saurav Ghosal, back from retirement, wins Octane Sydney Classic

Veteran Indian squash player Saurav Ghosal, who came out of retirement earlier this month, showed no sign of rustiness as he won the PSA Challenger title at the Octane Sydney Classic in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday.

Second-seeded Saurav won the final in a dominating fashion by beating Abdelrahman Nassar of Egypt in straight games (11-2, 11-6, 11-2).

Back from retirement

Despite not playing on the PSA tour for almost a year, Saurav was playing all the long rallies efficiently, which foiled Nassar's plan of pushing for long rallies. The Egyptian player could manage only ten points from the match.

Saurav dominated the tournament from the very onset as he dropped only one game throughout the competition, which he lost against the third-seeded Rhys Dowling of Australia in the semifinal.

Earlier, he registered two straight game victories against Kijan Sultana of Malta and Minwoo Lee of South Korea in the first and second rounds respectively.

He announced his retirement from the sport in April last year, but he changed his mind earlier this year and decided to give another shot to his dream of competing at the Olympics. Squash will make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

However, his first aim will be to qualify for the 2026 Asian Games, and if everything goes well he might push himself for two more years and try to grab a spot in the Los Angeles Olympics.