India, May 12 -- In the middle of his fourth game at the PSA World Championships on Sunday, Ali Farag turned to his coach Karim Darwish and "asked him if I was playing against Ramy Ashour!"

Ashour is regarded as among the greatest squash players ever. Farag, though, was playing Indian qualifier Veer Chotrani. Farag is the top seed chasing his fifth Worlds gold. Chotrani, ranked 57, has one match victory at the Worlds. The unfancied Indian took the first game, ran him close in the second and led 10-8 in the fourth. Farag's experience and class though made the difference in the end as he came through 7-11, 11-7, 11-3, 12-10 in a second-round contest that was a mismatch on paper but hardly so on the court.

"I told him (Chotrani) after the ...