Indian men’s squash team to face Pakistan in Asian Games final. (Credits: X)
Saurav Ghosal and Abhay Singh helped the Indian men’s squash team beat defending champs Malaysia 2-0, India to face Pakistan for gold medal
Indian men’s squash team churned out a hard-fought win over Malaysia to storm into the final of the Asian Games. India beat defending champions Malaysia in the semifinal clash on Friday, 2-0.
India will face Pakistan in the final of the men’s squash event, on September 30, from 01:00 PM IST.
Abhay Singh set the tone by beating Muhammad Addeen Bin Bahtiar 3-1 in his match, the Indian won the first game 11-3, and the second game went down to the wire but Abhay won 12-10. The Malaysian won the third game 11-9, but Abhay won 11-6 to give India a headstart in the semifinal.
In the second encounter of the day, Saurav Ghosal faced Eain Yow NG. The Indian won the first game 11-8 and then he kept his dominant run going by winning the second game 11-6.
Eain Yow fired back as he refused to be bogged down by firing back and winning the third game 12-10. Saurav however won the fourth game 11-3 and set up a mouth-watering final against Pakistan.
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The Pakistan men’s team had beaten India 2-1 in the group stage, but the Indian side will be vowing for revenge in the final.
Earlier, the women’s squash team comprising of Joshna Chinappa, Tanvi Khanna and Anahat Singh bagged a bronze medal after losing to Hong Kong, China 1-2 in the semifinals.
India finished second in Pool A behind Pakistan, but qualified for the semifinal, facing a stern challenge from Jakarta’s gold medallist-winning side Malaysia. However, Mahesh Mangaonkar was not even needed to feature as the Indian team flexed their muscles to qualify into the gold medal match.
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Against Pakistan in the group stage match, Abhay had lost 3-1 (8-11, 12-10, 8-11, 8-11) to Noor Zaman. Saurav Ghosal brought India back at level pegging by beating Muhammad Asim Khan 3-0 (11-3, 11-5, 11-1). In the deciding game, Mangaonkar fought right until the end but lost 3-1 (6-11, 11-13, 11-9, 8-11) to Nasir Iqbal.
India had earlier defeated Singapore and Qatar in the Pool A before losing to Pakistan but they will be gunning for gold in the final on Saturday.
