Squash At Asian Games 2023: Indian Men Lose To Pakistan But Still In Line To Make It To Last Four

The Indian men's squash team lost to Pakistan in their penultimate Pool A match on Wednesday but are firmly in contention to qualify for the semi-finals if they beat Nepal in the final game on Thursday. The top two teams from each pool qualify and despite the defeat at the hands of Pakistan, Saurav Ghosal and company are in sight of a podium finish. In the first match, Zaman Noor beat Abhay Singh 3-1. The score-line read 11-9 10-12 11-8 11-8 in Zaman's favour. The match lasted 51 minutes and at no point did Abhay looked like being in contention to win the tie.

However Ghosal, a veteran of many memorable battles in India jersey, brushed aside Asim Muhammad Khan in 30 minutes. Ghosal won 11-3 11-5 11-1 to restore parity.

But Mahesh Mangaonkar, who has been around in national circuit for a long time bungled at crucial moments as Nasir Iqbal of Pakistan prevailed in their 64-minute battle.

Nasir won 11-6 13-11 9-11 11-8 in a hard-fought battle and Mangaonkar was seen completely shattered as Pakistanis celebrated.

Earlier, the Indian men's team had a couple of good encounters while women also enjoyed a walk in the park.

The women's team thrashed Nepal, and the men prevailed over Kuwait. Both the teams won by an identical 3-0 margin.

In the first match, 15-year-old Anahat Singh eased past Krishna Thapa 11-7 11-1 11-2, before Joshna Chinappa beat Bipana Bhlon 11-4 11-2 11-2.

Dipika Pallikal then registered a comfortable 11-1 11-3 11-2 over Swasthani Shrestha to wrap up the Pool B contest.

The Indian women's team had earlier blanked Pakistan 3-0 in its opening pool tie on Tuesday.

Third seeded Indian women are paired in Pool B alongside Malaysia, Macau, China, Pakistan and Nepal.

The Indian men also continued their winning