The Indian women’s squash team despite suffering a defeat to Malaysia in its final Pool B tie, reached the semifinals of the ongoing 19th Asian Games, assuring the country of at least a bronze medal in the multi-sports event. It was India’s first defeat in women’s team squash Pool B while Malaysia won all their five group ties.
Thursday’s 0-3 defeat against Malaysia before the semifinal fixture is a major setback for India after talented players such as Joshna Chinnappa, Anahat Singh, Dipika Pallikal, and Tanvi Khanna, displayed their dominance on the court and raised hopes of a gold medal, in previous Pool B ties.
The veteran Joshana Chinappa, Tanvi Khanna and teenager Anahat Singh lost their matches in the women’s team tie against Malaysia on Thursday. Playing the first match, Chinappa went down 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 against Sivasangari Subramaniam in a match that lasted for 21 minutes.
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However, in the second game, Tanvi Khanna displayed remarkable resiliency and defeated Azman Aifa Binti, winning the opening game 11-9. The Malaysian player rallied to win the following two games to take a 2-1 match advantage. At the conclusion of the fourth game, Tanvi fought her way back to even the score at 2-2. Azman overcame Tanvi 11-5 in the fifth game to win the match and give Malaysia a 2-0 lead in the tie.
Despite Anahat’s aggressive play in the third game, Malaysian player Rachel Arnold won the final match 14-12 to seal a 3-0 victory. The Indian suffered a defeat against Arnold with a score line of 7-11, 7-11, 12-14. The Indian team will compete in a semifinal matchup in an effort to improve the colour of their medal on Friday. The Indian team will be in action in the semifinal on Friday and will hope to better the colour of its medal.
