Squah player Ramasra bags silver in Porto

TT squash player Colin Ramasra continued his impressive run on the international circuit by capturing silver at the 2020 Portugal Masters Oporto Grand Prix Men’s Over-35 category which climaxed in Porto on Sunday.

On his way to the final, the second-ranked Ramasra conquered three of his four opponents to seal another shot at gold, having also bagged silver at the 2019 edition.

Nursing an ankle injury in the title match against the division’s fourth seed, Ivan Flores Vela (Spain), Ramasra succumbed 3-11, 1-11, 1-11 following a hectic and physically demanding three-day tourney.

Competing out of Group B on the opening day, the TT athlete started well by getting past Srdan Makismovic (Croatia) 11-4, 11-6, 11-8. He then stunned the home fans by disposing son-of-the-soil Norberto Monteiro 11-5, 12-10, 11-7 to top the group and automatically advance to the next stage. Or so he thought!

Ramasra then suffered a minor illness before being informed at the last minute, he would have to play a third game against Flores to complete the group’s matches. Although ill but not wanting to be eliminated via default, Ramasra turned up for the match but was quickly defeated 3-0 (4-11, 6-11, 3-11).

Into the semi-final against local favourite, Group A winner and 2018 tournament champion, Rui Cruz, Ramasra clawed from behind to pull off a miraculous 3-2 upset victory. In the opening game, both players rallied to seven-a-piece before an on-court collision. Ramasra returned to win the next four points and win the first game 11-7.

Cruz then pulled one back in the second, to win 11-9, and convincingly win the third game 11-4. However, in a surprising turn of events, Ramasra managed to battle from behind to triumph 11-9 in the fourth and hold on for a nail-biting 11-8 finish in the fifth, to secure his second consecutive Oporto Over-35 final.

It turned out Ramasra’s collision with Cruz in the semi-final would be more significant than he thought as he was left nursing a swollen ankle following the match. A gutted Ramasra still elected to play the final but stood no chance and was defeated 0-3 at the hands of Vela.

On his most recent result, the multiple national champion was pleased to secure another podium performance on the global competitive circuit.

“I had a good start at this tournament but things took an unfortunate turn on the second day of competition. I was extremely relieved to win my semi-final match given the circumstances. I’m happy to have walked away with a silver medal for TT,” Colin Ramasra

The Oporto Grand Prix is one of three Grand Prix events held in Europe every year and attracts the highest level of players. The event had 180 players from over 16 countries.