Asian Games 2023, India bag gold with 2-1 win over Pakistan in men’s squash

India has won a gold medal in men’s squash team event after beating Pakistan 2-1 at the Asian Games. In a tightly contested match, the team led by Abhav Singh outperformed their rivals in the final round. The best-of-three tie started with Mahesh M losing to Nasir Iqbal in straight games – 8-11, 3-11, 2-11. Saurav Ghosal, however, pulled the contest square with his 11-5, 11-1, 11-3 victory over Muhammad Asim. The decider between Abhay Singh and Noor Zaman stretched the full distance but the Indian eventually prevailed 11-7, 9-11, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10.

Key Points

• This was India’s second-ever gold medal in squash at the Asian Games. The previous one was also won by the men’s team – at Incheon 2014. Saurav Ghosal and Mahesh Mangaonkar were also a part of the champion team from Incheon. The Indian men’s squash team registered a hard-fought 2-0 victory over 2018 champions Malaysia in the semi-finals. They made the knockouts after finishing second behind Pakistan in Pool A. Only the top two teams from each pool progressed to the last-four.
• The Indian men’s team had finished with a bronze medal at the 2018 Jakarta Games in Indonesia.
• The women’s team ended its Hangzhou 2023 squash campaign with a bronze medal after losing to Hong Kong China in the semi-finals on Friday.
• Indian squash players will next be in action in the singles and mixed doubles events which start on October 1.

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