KARACHI: Pakistan’s players impressed in the squash singles event during the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, on Sunday.
Pakistan's Asim Khan beat Aaron-Jon Widjaja Liang of Singapore 3-1 to qualify for the round of 16. Asim lost the first game but went on to win the next three to clinch victory.
Meanwhile, Nasir Iqbal defeated Natthapat Theerasilp of Thailand 3-0 to qualify for men's singles round of 16.
In the women’s singles, Pakistan's Noor-ul-Ain beat Khulan Purevjav of Mongolia 3-0 to book her spot in the round of 16.
However, Pakistan’s players lost to India in both mixed doubles clash on the same day.
India's Abhay Singh and Anahat Singh eased past Pakistan's Farhan Zaman and Sadia Gul 2-0 in Pool D. Meanwhile, Noor Zaman and Mehwish Ali lost to Harinder Pal Singh and Dipika Pallikal by the same scoreline in Pool A.
Earlier, India beat Pakistan 2-1 in the final of the men’s squash team event and won the gold medal on Saturday.
Pakistan performed brilliantly throughout the tournament but fell short in the final and could only secure a silver medal.
The Green Shirts started on a high note with Nasir Iqbal giving his side a bright start after beating Mahesh Mangaonakar 3-0 in the first match of the final.
Nasir won with scores of 11-8, 11-3 and 11-2.
But the Blues came back in the game courtesy of Saurav Ghosal's stunning performance as he beat Mohammad Asim Khan 11-5, 11-1 and 11-3 in a one-sided contest.
It all came down to the final match between Noor Zaman and Abhay Singh.
The intense five-set nail-biter between two talented players lasted for 65 mins after which India emerged triumphant.
Singh won the first game without much difficulty but Zaman’s excellent comeback in back-to-back games made things tough for his Indian counterpart as he took a 2-1 lead after the third game.
However, after Singh’s excellent display in the fourth game, it all came down to the final set which lasted for 14 minutes — the longest of this match.
Zaman was leading the game 10-8 and was just one point away from securing the gold for his country but Singh did not give up and continued to push back and eventually won the accolade for his country by winning the last game 12-10.
Abhay Singh won the match with the scores of 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9 and 12-10.
Faizan Lakhani Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.
