Around 10.20pm (British time, 2.50am, Thursday, IST) on Wednesday, Saurav Ghosal could finally be reached on a WhatsApp call. Not too many hours had passed since he had won bronze after beating close friend James Willstrop of England and scripted a milestone by being India’s first-ever singles medallist in squash at the Commonwealth Games.

A resident of upscale DL Khan Road at present, this Saurav, even if he’s not connected with cricket, has made Calcutta proud as well with his achievement. Yet, there was a sense of calmness and poise in his voice, which underlined his focus and yearning for more success. The singles bronze done and dusted, his goal now is a gold medal in the mixed doubles category with Dipika Pallikal.

“Obviously, this bronze medal means a hell of a lot for me. It’s been a big day for me as well as the Indian squash fraternity. But my focus now shifts to mixed doubles, where Dipika and I are targeting gold.

“We also have the PSA World Tour championship coming up, but that’s not on my mind now. Mixed doubles gold here is the sole focus now,” Ghosal told The Telegraph.

Ghosal, incidentally, is married to Dipika’s sister Diya. For Ghosal, this bronze is “bigger” than even his 2014 Asian Games team gold. “You need to take into account the sheer quality of the opposition here,” he pointed out. “In fact, this bronze medal match was the hardest in terms of the mental aspect. It was a huge occasion for me to take on James, who’s a former world No.1 and legend of the game. So I needed to have a clear mindset.

“Now that I have accomplished the task successfully and come up trumps over such a quality opponent, I would say this (bronze) shades the Asian Games team gold and is bigger than that. This, probably, is my biggest medal so far,” Ghosal elaborated.

Ghosal will turn 36 next week (August 10), but by no means is that figure a deterrent to him. It’s the drive to be the best that keeps him going. “The drive to be the best we possibly can is what keeps people like me, Achanta (Sharath Kamal) and even Joshna (Chinappa) going. We want to be in the finest possible shape so that we’re the best in terms of our mindset and performance as we wish to leave behind an impact,” Ghosal emphasised. The Calcutta Racket Club, where Ghosal has honed his skills since his early days in the circuit and won several games, is also planning a grand felicitation for the world No.15 after he returns from Birmingham.