Hangzhou, Oct 5: Veterans Dipika Pallikal and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu survived some anxious moments to clinch the mixed doubles gold, but Saurav Ghosal settled for singles silver on Thursday as Indian squash players recorded their best-ever performance at the Asian Games.
Dipika and Harinder eked out a 11-10 11-10 win over Malaysian duo of Aifa Binti Azman and Mohammad Syafiq Bin Mohd Kamal in a tense 35 minute final to fetch India’s second gold medal in squash at the ongoing event.
However, it was disappointment for India’s top player Ghosal as he lost to Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng 11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 7-11 in a little over an hour.
But that wouldn’t take sheen out of India’s brilliant outing in the squash competition in Hangzhou, where they bettered the country’s effort in the Incheon Games 2014.
India had won a historic gold in the men’s team event nine years ago, with two silver and a bronze to boot with.
However, in the ongoing Games, India have won two gold, a silver and a bronze.
“I don’t always remember what happens on court. It’s a blur for both of us. We only remember the last point. We are more than happy. We are very proud of the fact we are here and won gold,” Dipika said after the win.
“Myself and Harinder have worked really, really hard to be here at this moment, to be part of this team and to win the gold. We are very humbled to be in this position that we are right now,” she said.
Both pairs were neck and neck in the opening game, with none of them able to hold on to the lead. Dipika kept fetching points with her fantastic forehand.
The Indians saved two game points before taking the first game after Aifa erred in hitting a forehand.
Major S Maniam, the former India coach, was present in the Malaysian camp.
Leading 9-3 in the second game, the Indian duo was on course for an easy win.
But the Malaysians had other plans as they capitalised on Dipika and Harinder’s slightly sluggish movement to take seven consecutive points and rise from 3-9 to 10-9.
The encounter then became more tense as the 10-9 point had to be played multiple times due to let (obstruction).
The 34-year-old Harinder then hit two backhand winners to seal the fixture.
Ghosal, who did not drop a game in this Games till the final, started the match trailing the Malaysian who built an 8-6 lead.
However, Ghosal played some fine forehands to make it 8-8 and eventually won the game.
But the Malaysian turned the table in the second game winning it 11-9, and it seemed to have affected the concentration of Ghosal.
In the third and fourth games, Ghosal hardly produced any fight and his backhand completely deserted him, with the Indian making a slew of errors.
Ghosal also found himself out of position several times in these two games, and lost points through obstruction.
Ghosal said his opponent was simply better on the day.
“I think I played pretty alright for the most part. In the second game a few things didn’t go my way. Credit to Yow, as he played really well. He imposed his game better for the most part.
“I didn’t play well, but I can be really proud of the effort I put in,” said the Indian after the match.
However, the 37-year-old remained non-committal about his future plans, but he expressed satisfaction over his Asian Games outing.
“Things are still very raw. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. If it is, I know that I gave it my best shot.
“I did everything. I trained as hard as I could. If I do walk away into the sunset, I can walk away a proud man,” Ghosal said. PTI
Asian Games Medals Tally
Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 China 179 99 55 333
2 Japan 44 54 60 158
3 South Korea 33 47 77 157
4 India 21 32 33 86
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