Within days of becoming the first squash player in a decade to be bestowed with an Arjuna Award, Saurav Ghosal suffered a setback as he was forced out of action due to a muscle strain in his left leg.The 21-year-old, who won his third national title last month, has already pulled out of the $25,000 CAS International tournament in Islamabad starting tomorrow and is doubtful for September’s English Grand Prix in Birmingham.“I have pulled a muscle in my left leg. I might give the English Grand Prix a miss next month as well,” said Ghosal. “The injury is not that serious and I might as well have played but there are some big tournaments coming up and I want to be at my best for them. The British Open is in mid-September and I don’t want to take chances,” he added. The British Open is scheduled from September 18 to 24 in Manchester. Ghosal had become the first Indian to win the British Junior Open when he claimed the title in 2004. The country’s top squash player said the strain was a result of ignoring minor niggles, which had been troubling him for some time. “The injury did not happen all of a sudden, it has been manifesting over a period of time. It is disappointing to be out after being in such fine form but it won’t keep me down for long as the treatment is on ,” Ghosal, ranked 41, said.Ghosal also asserted the injury would not come in the way of his target of reaching the world top-30 by the year’ end. The Kolkata lad, who became the first Indian to win a squash medal at the Doha Asian Games last year, said he was aiming to break into the top-10 of world rankings before the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
