Squash: Indian men clinch first-ever gold at Asian Team Championships

The men’s team comprising Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Saurav Ghosal, Ramit Tandon, Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthil Kumar beat Kuwait 2-0 in the final.

Indian men’s squash team, led by Saurav Ghosal (file photo), won its first-ever gold medal at the Asian Team Championships in Cheongju, Korea on Friday. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Indian men’s squash team won its first-ever gold medal at the Asian Team Championships in Cheongju, Korea on Friday.

India beat Kuwait 2-0 in the summit clash.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Saurav Ghosal beat Ammar Altamimi 3-0 (11-9, 11-2, 11-3) after Ramit Tandon defeated Ali Aramezi 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-4) to seal the victory. Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthil Kumar, National Games gold and silver medallists respectively, were the other two team members.

The men’s team had previously won silver medal on two occasions.

On Thursday, the women’s team - National Games gold medallist Sunayna Kuruvilla, silver medallist Urwashi Joshi, and bronze medallists Anahat Singh and Tanvi Khanna - had lost 1-2 to Malaysia in the semifinals, finishing the campaign with a bronze medal.

The men’s team had won all five of its group stage matches before beating Malaysia 2-1 in the semifinals. On the other hand, the women’s team finished second in its group before going down to Malaysia in the last-four fixture.