A day after the Indian men’s squash team pipped Pakistan to clinch the gold medal, the mixed doubles teams won their respective pool matches while Mahesh Mangaonkar won his round of 32 match in Hangzhou at the Asian Games on Sunday. In Pool A, the pair of Dipika Pallikal and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu defeated the South Korean duo of Jaejin Yoo and Hwayeong Eum 2-0, recording an 11-2, 11-5 win in 22 minutes. Later in the day, Dipika and Sandhu needed a mere 11 minutes to thwart the challenge from the Pakistani pair of Mehwish Ali and Noor Zaman, blanking them 11-4, 11-1 to romp home to a 2-0 win.
(Asian Games 2023 Medals Tally | Asian Games 2023 Full Schedule)
On the other hand, the pair of Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh crushed the pair of David William Pelino and Yvonne Alyssa Dalida from the Philippines 2-0 in their first assignment of the day.
Anahat and Abhay won 11-7, 11-5 in their Pool D contest lasting 15 minutes.
In their next match, Anahat and Abhay thrashed Pakistan’s Sadia Gul and Farhan Zaman 11-3, 11-2 to record a comfortable 2-0 win in only 16 minutes.
India will take on Thailand in Pool D on October 2 in mixed doubles while in Pool A, the country’s next contest will be against Japan on October 3.
In men’s singles, Mangaonkar remained on top of the game to record a 3-0 win over Philippines’ Jonathan Reyes 11-8, 11-4, 11-2 in his round of 32 contest.
Indian women, men lose in Sepaktakraw
The Indian teams in Sepaktakraw started their campaign at the Asian Games on a disappointing note as the women faced two straight defeats and the men lost their opening match in Hangzhou on Sunday.
In the women’s quadrant preliminary Group B face-off, the women’s side lost to Laos 0-2 (14-21, 16-21) and then to China 0-2 (15-21, 14-21), both matches ending in 46 minutes.
In the men’s quadrant preliminary Group B match, the Indians lost to world number six Japan 0-2 (14-21, 16-21) in 50 minutes at the Jinhua Sports Centre Gymnasium.
The women’s side will be looking to register a win in their next game against the Philippines, while the men’s team will play against Singapore on Monday.
The top two teams from both groups will qualify for the semi-finals.
India has won only one medal so far in the sport at the Asian Games — a bronze in men’s regu at the 2018 edition in Jakarta.
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