Indian squash team off to a good start at Asian Games

Mon, Nov 22 10 07:02 PM

Guangzhou, Nov 22 (PTI) Spearheaded by Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa, Indian men''s and women''s racqueters came out with a heartening performance to end the day on an unbeaten note in the squash team events of the Asian Games, here today. Indian men blanked Japan 3-0 in their opening encounter of the day and then went on to secure their third straight preliminary league victory in the event, thrashing Saudi Arabia with an identical scoreline. In the women''s section, Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal and Anaka Alankamony displayed perfect dead drop for winners and dying length to the back corners to rip apart the challenge of Chinese racqueters 3-0 in the first outing. And then secured a much-deserved victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the final clash of the day here at the Town Gymnasium. Indian men, who had trounced minnows Qatar by an identical score yesterday in their opening tie, faced little opposition from Japan and Saudi Arabia in the men''s category. They, however, expect to face a tough competition against Malaysia tomorrow in their concluding league tie of Pool B. Bronze medallist in the singles event, Ghosal started the rout of Japan when he drubbed Yuta Fuki 3-0 (11-6 11-2 11-6) in 22 minutes. Siddharth Suchde, who also played in the individual events but did not win a medal, had to put his best foot forward to overcome Tsukue Shinnosuke 11-5 12-10 11-6 in 45 minutes that gave India a 2-0 lead. The victory was sealed by Harinder Pal Sandhu who got the better of Shimizu Takanori in 33 minutes, the score reading 11-9 11-7 12-10 in Indian''s favour. In their clash against Saudi Arabia, national champion Ghosal once again proved his mettle and maintained his focus to the optimum throughout the match to secure a deserving win over Ahmad Abdullah Aboragah 11-3 11-6 11-2 in 21 minutes. Harinder Pal then made it 2-0 for India with a hard-earned 11-3 11-4 9-11 11-9 victory over Niyf Khlaifah Aburequah in 27 minutes. Sandeep Jangra maintained the Indian dominance, displaying some excellent volleys and good groundstrokes to outclass his lesser known opponent Taher Ali Botayan 11-4 11-3 11-3 in 16 minutes. .

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