Pakistan’s brilliant form at the 19th Asian Games continued today as they took down No.3 seeds Hong Kong, China to reach the men’s team squash final for the first time in 13 years, where they will face rivals India after the top seeds downed defending champions Malaysia.
The women’s final, meanwhile, will be contested by No.1 seeds Hong Kong, China and No.2 seeds Malaysia after they beat India and Republic of Korea, respectively.
Pakistan entered the Asian Games Men’s Team Championship as underdogs, with the team seeded fourth and without an appearance in the final since the inaugural championship in 2010.
After an impressive pools stage in which they beat No.1 seeds India to top the pool, though, Pakistan came into today’s semi-final rejuvenated.
In the first match, 19-year-old Noor Zaman was in inspired form, with the powerful World No.113 giving his side the lead with a 12-10, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8 win over World No.51 Henry Leung.
Pakistan looked on their way to winning it with a match to spare when Muhammad Asim Khan dominated early on against Tsz Kwan Lau, but the 27-year-old came back well to force the tie into a third match with a 60-minute 3-2 win.
From the opening rallies of match three it seemed inevitable that Nasir Iqbal, who has been playing some of his best squash in Hangzhou, would get Pakistan over the line.
The 29-year-old, part of the Pakistan team that crashed out in the pools stage in 2014, controlled proceedings against Ming Hong Tang throughout, wrapping up the win in straight games.
Afterwards, Iqbal said: “The first match was important. When Noor won, all the team and all the players got a lot of confidence.
Pakistan will take on fierce rivals India tomorrow, with the top seeds no doubt eager to settle the score after a disappointing defeat to Pakistan earlier this week.
India’s Abhay Singh, up against Malaysia’s Addeen Idrakie – who was rested by Malaysia yesterday – played his best squash of the tournament so far to give the top seeds a morale-boosting lead with a 3-1 win.
Indian No.1 Saurav Ghosal then followed this up with a high-octane 3-1 win over Eain Yow Ng to send India into the final for the first time since he helped his team to the 2014 title.
Afterwards, Ghosal commented on a second clash with Pakistan this week: “We probably didn’t play as well as we possibly can as a team, but that takes nothing away from [Pakistan].
“You have to give Pakistan credit for the way they have played this entire week. They’ve been very good and won all their matches. They are flying high and playing really well.”
In the women’s event, play went to seedings, though it was far from smooth sailing for top seeds and defending champions Hong Kong, China in their tie against No.3 seeds India.
The favourites – both in seeding and with the Hangzhou crowd – got off to a perfect start when Sin Yuk Chan dispatched Tanvi Khanna in just 20 minutes and looked to be on their way to a comfortable win when their No.1 Tomato Ho took the first game against Joshna Chinappa.
The 37-year-old, however, had other ideas. Chinappa, playing in her sixth Asian Games, began to pick off Ho’s attacks and then, as confidence drained from the World No.24, pressed on to level the tie with a 3-2 win.
This put the tie in the hands of 29-year-old Ka Yi Lee and 15-year-old Anahat Singh.
To the joy of the crowd, Lee’s experience seemed to prove the difference, with the fourth string, playing ahead of Tsz-Wing Tong today, hitting her targets well as she went 2-0 and 10-2 up.
Incredibly, Singh saved those eight match balls to force a tie break, but was unable to push on, with Lee eventually seeing out the last game 12-10.
“[The crowd] is great. The applause and cheers are big and it gives me a lot of motivation,” Lee said afterwards.
Hong Kong, China will take on old rivals and two-time winners Malaysia tomorrow after the No.2 seeds confidently overcame No.5 seeds Republic of Korea 2-0 after straight-games wins for Aifa Azman and Sivasangari Subramaniam.
“We’re all in a great state of mind; we’re all positive and hope to get the win tomorrow as well,” Subramaniam said afterwards.
The finals of the Hangzhou Asian Games team squash events take place tomorrow, September 30, with play beginning at 13:00 (GMT+8).
The singles and mixed doubles events begin October 01.
Keep up with the results and schedule on the official tournament website. Find out more about the Hangzhou Asian Games as asiansquash.org and at worldsquash.org
Results: 19th Asian Games Women’s Team Championship, Semi-Finals
[1] Hong Kong, China 2-1 [3] India
Sin Yuk Chan bt Tanvi Khanna 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-3 (22m)
Tomato Ho lost to Joshna Chinappa 2-3: 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 6-11, 8-11 (47m)
Ka Yi Lee bt Anahat Singh 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 12-10 (29m)
[2] Malaysia 2-0 [5] Republic of Korea
Aifa Azman bt Hwayeong Eum 3-0: 11-4, 11-1, 11-8 (20m)
Sivasangari Subramaniam bt Jihyun Lee 2-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (21m)
Rachel Arnold v Yeongsoo Yang (w/d)
Results: 19th Asian Games Men’s Team Championship, Semi-Finals
[1] India 2-0 [2] Malaysia
Abhay Singh bt Addeen Idrakie 3-1: 11-3, 12-10, 9-11, 11-6 (57m)
Saurav Ghosal bt Eain Yow Ng 3-1: 11-8, 11-6, 10-12, 11-3 (69m)
Mahesh Mangaonkar v Mohd Syafiq Kamal (w/d)
[4] Pakistan 2-1 [3] Hong Kong, China
Noor Zaman bt Henry Leung 3-1: 12-10, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8 (43m)
Muhammad Asim Khan lost to Tsz Kwan Lau 2-3: 11-8, 12-14, 12-10, 4-11, 2-11 (60m)
Nasir Iqbal bt Ming Hong Tang 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-5 (30m)
Draw: 19th Asian Games Women’s Team Championship, Final
[1] Hong Kong, China v [2] Malaysia
Draw: 19th Asian Games Men’s Team Championship, Final
[1] India v [4] Pakistan