Asian Games 2023: Dipika Pallikal-Harinder Pal Singh pair wins squash mixed doubles gold; Saurav Ghoshal collects silver

Dipika Pallikal and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu won the mixed doubles final on Thursday as India registered their best-ever performance in squash at the Asian Games.

The path to gold however, was far from easy for senior pros Pallikal and Sandhu on Day 12 of the 19th Asian Games that’s taking place in Hangzhou, China.

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.

Besides Pallikal and Sandhu’s gold and Ghoshal’s silver, India also won two gold medals in archery and a bronze in wrestling.

The trios of Jyothi Surekha, Aditi Swami and Parneet Kaur and Prathamesh Jawkar, Ojas Deotale, Abhishek Verma won the women’s and men’s compound team events on Thursday while U-20 world champion wrestler Antim Panghal, making her maiden Asian Games appearance, walked away with bronze medal in the women’s 53kg event.

With inputs from PTI