Nagoya, Oct 2:
India’s men’s and women’s squash teams signed off with bronze medals at the Asian Games after both suffered 1-2 defeats in their respective semi-finals on Thursday.
The men, who were defending their Asian Games title, went down to Malaysia, while the women lost to Hong Kong in a dramatic contest. The defeats ended India’s hopes of putting both teams into the gold-medal matches.
Abhay Singh was given the responsibility of putting India ahead against Malaysia but faced a familiar opponent in Eain Yow Ng. The Malaysian had already beaten Abhay in the men’s singles final earlier in the Games and produced another convincing performance, winning 11-8, 11-8, 11-8 in just 22 minutes.
India fought back through Veer Chotrani. He dominated Sanjay Jeeva from the beginning and secured an 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 victory in only 11 minutes to level the tie at 1-1.
The deciding rubber saw Velavan Senthilkumar take on Ameeshenraj Chandaran. Senthilkumar edged a closely fought opening game 12-10, but the Malaysian responded strongly. Chandaran won the next three games 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 to complete a 3-1 victory and give Malaysia a 2-1 win in the tie.
The women’s semi-final against Hong Kong was equally dramatic. Anahat Singh appeared to have put India in control after winning the first two games against Sin Yuk Chan. She was also 10-6 ahead in the fourth game, needing only one point to move closer to victory.
But Sin saved all four match points and forced a decider. The Hong Kong player eventually prevailed 9-11, 8-11, 11-6, 13-11, 12-10 after a marathon contest.
Tanvi Khanna then kept India alive with a fighting performance against Ka Yi Lee. After losing the opening game 4-11, Tanvi fought back to win the next three 13-11, 11-9, 13-11, saving crucial game points along the way.
The tie therefore went down to the final rubber, where veteran Joshana Chinappa faced Ho Tze Lok. Joshana struggled to contain her opponent and lost 4-11, 7-11, 9-11. She did make a late attempt to extend the contest, saving five match points in the third game, but Ho eventually closed out the match.