India upstage Pakistan to win gold in men's team squash

Hangzhou, September 30

Top seeds India upstaged traditional rivals Pakistan in a sensational duel to claim the gold medal in the men’s team squash event at the Asian Games here on Saturday.

The hero of the day was Chennai’s Abhay Singh, who kept his composure and raised his game to get the better of Noor Zaman 3-2 in a seesaw decider, in which the 25-year-old Indian saved two gold medal points to emerge triumphant and throw his racquet in the air.

This was after the seasoned Saurav Ghosal brought the Indians back into the contest with a 3-0 win over Muhammad Asim Khan after Mahesh Mangaonkar lost the opener to Iqbal Nasir by an identical margin.

India thus avenged their defeat to the same opponent in the league stage of this edition of the continental showpiece.

India last won a men’s team squash gold in the 2014 edition of the games in Incheon, while the Pakistanis last claimed gold in 2010 in Guanzhou.