India’s men top Pool A and women beat Japan to reach squash quarter-finals at Asian Games Day 6

India’s squash teams progressed on Day 6 of the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, with the men finishing top of Pool A and the women defeating Japan 2-1 to reach the quarter-finals.

India entered the team stage having already won three medals at the Asian Games — two silver and one bronze — and without the individual golds they had aimed for after Abhay Singh and Anahat Singh lost to the defending Malaysian champions in the singles. The Indian men are the reigning team champions and fielded Abhay Singh alongside Veer Chotrani, Velavan Senthilkumar and Suraj Chand, while the women’s squad comprised Anahat Singh, Joshna Chinappa, Tanvi Khanna and Shameena Riaz, who were bronze medallists at the previous Games.

The women opened Pool C with a 2-1 victory over China after a tight sequence of matches. Shameena Riaz led two games to nil against Yin Ziyuan but lost 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 9-11, and 14-12 in a long five-game battle; Tanvi Khanna then levelled the tie with a straight-games win over Zhang Yuning, and Joshna Chinappa closed out the victory with a dominant performance over Liu Ziyi.

India’s men started Pool A with a 3-0 win over China, Suraj Chand setting the tone with an 11-4, 11-3, 12-10 victory over Du Shaoqian in 30 minutes, during which Du earned a game point in the third. Veer Chotrani followed with an 11-5, 11-5, 11-3 win against Li Haizhen, and Velavan Senthilkumar completed the sweep by beating Zhou Penglin 11-3, 11-2, 11-4.

The women’s tie against Japan required a decider after Joshna Chinappa put India ahead with an 11-1, 11-8, 11-9 win over Erisa Sano and Anahat Singh was edged by Satomi Watanabe 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11. Anahat had previously recovered from two games down to beat Watanabe in the singles semi-final, but this match went the other way, leaving Tanvi Khanna to play the must-win rubber; Khanna delivered, beating Akari Midorikawa 12-10, 11-9, 4-11, 12-10 to seal the 2-1 overall result and send the women into the last eight.

The men concluded Day 6 by beating South Korea 3-0 to top Pool A and advance to the quarter-finals. Velavan Senthilkumar, Abhay Singh and Veer Chotrani all won their matches in straight games, with Velavan recording an 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 victory over Jooyoung Na.

Across other pools, Japan beat Iran 3-0 and China edged Iran 2-1 in the women’s Pool C; Hong Kong defeated South Korea and Pakistan 3-0 in Pool B while Pakistan beat Mongolia 3-0 and the South Korea–Mongolia tie ended in a walkover. In the men’s event, Pakistan won both Pool B ties 3-0 against the Philippines and Kuwait, Malaysia swept Thailand and Qatar 3-0 in Pool C, and Hong Kong beat Mongolia 3-0 in Pool D.

Both Indian teams have now qualified for the quarter-finals: the men as Pool A winners and the women after their 2-1 victory over Japan, with India’s overall Games medal tally at two silver and one bronze.