Indian squash star Anahat Singh and compatriot Abhay Singh ended with a silver medal each at the Asian Games after coming up short against their respective Malaysian opponents in the finals in Nagoya on Sunday.
Abhay could not match the class and consistency of Eain Yow Ng in the men’s singles final, losing in straight games 9-11, 5-11, 5-11.
Same was the case for 18-year-old Anahat, who was beaten fair and square by Sivasangari Subramaniam of Malaysia in the women’s singles final. The 17th ranked India lost 4-11, 4-11, 7-11 to the world number five.
Both Yow and Sivasangari became the first two squash athletes to qualify for the sport’s Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028 besides defending their Asian Games gold medal.
Anahat, the first Indian to win the world junior title, was unable to mount a comeback like she did against world number six Satomi Watanabe of Japan on Saturday.
Having closely watched the Anahat-Satomi semifinal, Sivasangari came up with a clear plan and executed it to perfection. The Malaysian did not allow Anahat to dish out a string of winners and instead kept the pressure with relentless attack.
It was still a memorable outing for Anahat, who surpassed the great Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal to become the first Indian to reach the women’s singles final in Asian Games’ history.
Earlier, Abhay, ranked 26, could not pose a stiff challenge to Yow, the world number 18, who defended his gold medal with a commanding performance. It was Abhay’s eighth loss to the Malaysian.
India are also expected to win medals in team events. The men’s team in fact goes into the competition as defending champion.
(PTI)
