Abhay-Velavan bag their third successive Asian Doubles Squash title

Sarawak (Malaysia ), June 21 (IANS) India’s Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar won the men’s crown for a third consecutive year at the Asian Doubles Squash Championships on Sunday, as India finished with medals across all three categories.

Abhay-Velavan, the top seed, rallied to beat Pakistan second seed Nasir Iqbal and Noor Zaman in a repeat of last year’s final, 7-11, 11-7, 11-2, in 47 minutes to extend their supremacy in the continental meet.

Following a slow start, Abhay and Velavan raised their game in the second, creating openings to the front and back corners with a combination of attacking squash and excellent touch and control for a blazing finish.

The India duo produced two commanding performances to book their place in Sunday’s summit clash against Pakistan’s second-seeded duo. They began by overcoming Japan’s Naoki Hayashi and Ren Makino 11-3, 10-12, 11-5 in a hard-fought quarter-final before raising their level in the last four to defeat Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva and Duncan Lee 11-7, 11-9.

Women’s doubles second seed Joshna Chinappa and Rathika Seelan and the mixed pair of Joshna and Velavan, also second seed, took bronze for their semi-final finishes on the penultimate day.

Second seeds Joshna and Rathika were unable to get past Malaysian top seeds Ainaa Amani and Yee Xin Ying, losing 9-11, 7-11 to settle for bronze. In the mixed double, Joshna and Velavan pushed Malaysia’s Ainaa Amani and Md Kamal before going down 8-11, 11-8, 8-11 in a closely contested semi-final and finished third.

India’s other men’s doubles pairing of Rahul Baitha and Suraj Chand failed to progress after suffering their second defeat in Pool B, losing to Pakistan’s Nasir Iqbal and Noor Zaman, while the other women’s pair of Janet Vidhi and Pooja Arthi finished in sixth place.

–IANS

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