Asian Games 2023: Dipika Pallikal & Harinder Pal Sandhu Win Squash Mixed Doubles Gold, Saurav Ghosal Settles For Silver

Add as a preferred source on Google

Hangzhou, October 5: India's squash mixed doubles pair of Dipika Pallikal and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu clinched gold in the Asian Games 2023 following a victory over Malaysian pair Aifa Binti Azman and Mohammad Syafiq Bin Mohd Kamal in the final on Thursday (October 5).

Dipika-Harinder defeated Aifa-Kamal pair in a close encounter, winning the match in 35 minutes in straight games 11-10, 11-10. Malaysia had the upper hand in the first game, however, India made a comeback and won by just one point 11-10.

In the second game, India had a 9-3 lead but later allowed Malaysia to tie. However, Sandhu gained two important points to guarantee that they would secure the 20th gold medal. This was India's fourth Squash medal in the ongoing continental event.

Veteran Saurav Ghosal also settled for silver, taking the squash medal tally to 5 - 2 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze after going down 1-3 (11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 2-11) in the men's singles final against Malaysia's NG Eain Yow.

Earlier, the men's team had won gold, while the women's team settled for bronze before another mixed doubles pair of Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh also settled for bronze after defeat to the Malaysian duo Aifa-Kamal in the semifinals.

Ghosal also starred in the Indian men's team Gold medal winning show against Arch rivals Pakistan. India beat Pakistan 2-1 in the final to win the gold medal in men's team squash. He will be fighting for gold later in the day when he faces NG Eain Yow of Malaysia.

Overall, India is headed towards their target of 100 medals as the medal tally currently stands at 83 with 20 golds, 31 silver and 32 bronze. Even if they don't cross the 100-medal mark, this is India's best-ever haul in the Asian Games, having previously finished with 70 medals in 2018.