HANGZHOU (China): Indian men’s team lost to Pakistan’s squash team in a closely contested Pool A fixture in the ongoing Asian Games on Wednesday.
India lost to Pakistan with a scoreline of 1-2 as Mahesh Mangaonka and Abhay Singh lost their respective clashes.
Zaman Noor set the tone of the game in favour of Pakistan as Abhay Singh lost the first match by 3-1. Abhay challenged Zaman in every set but the Pakistan squash player edged past to walk away with the first game (11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8).
Saurav Ghosal brought India back into the game by defeating Muhammad Amir Khan by 3-0. The Pakistani squash player barely stood a chance against the Indian. Saurav dominated all three games, not allowing his arch-rival to get used to the pace of the match. He took away the game within a blink of an eye and brought the game back on level terms with a 3-0 victory (11-3, 11-5, 11-1).
In the do-or-die clash, Nasir Iqbal rose to the occasion to take away the game from India and secure victory over Mahesh Mangaonkar by 3-1 (11-6, 13-11, 9-11, 11-8).
Mahesh put up a valiant fight against Nasir, but it wasn’t enough to secure victory for India.
Earlier in the day, India defeated Kuwait in their second Pool A match by 3-0.
Mahesh Mangaonkar provided the first win to India in the opening games. He won by 3-0 against Falah Mohammad. He ended the game in 21 minutes with 11-7, 11-1 and 11-2 victory.
In the second game, Saurav Ghosal faced Abdullah Almezayen. His match went to four sets but after his opponent retired, he was declared the winner. Saurav had lost his first and second match by 5-11 and 13-15 respectively, but he made a comeback in the third set and won 11-6. In the fourth set, however, the Kuwaiti player retired and Saurav Ghoshal was awarded one point for India.
India clinched the match in the third game in just 22 minutes. Abhay Singh defeated Alramezi Ali in three straight sets 11-7, 11-6 and 11-6. (ANI)