ISLAMABAD: Displaying a very poor performance, Pakistan lost to traditional rivals India and Kuwait in their third and fourth pool matches respectively in the 21st Asian Squash Team Championship for men at the Cheongju International Squash Stadium, Korea on Tuesday.

On the second day of the championship, Pakistan conceded a 3-0 defeat to India in their third fixture, according to the information received here.

Abhay Singh defeated Farhan Mehboob 11-5, 11-8, 11-8, Ramit Tandon overpowered Mohammad Hamza Khan 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 and Saurav Ghosal trounced Noor Zaman 11-5, 11-6, 11-3 to help India blank Pakistan in the Asian event.

In their fourth pool match, Pakistan again suffered a 3-0 defeat, this time against Kuwait. Ali Alramezi outclassed Hamza 11-5, 11-9, 12-10, Abdullah Almezayen thrashed Ahsan Ayaz 11-5, 11-6, 11-5, and Ammar Altamimi saw off Noor 11-3, 11-2, 11-0 in a one-side affair.

Twelve teams of men have been divided into two pools. India, Qatar, Pakistan, Kuwait, Korea and Chinese Taipei are placed in pool ‘A’ while pool ‘B’ comprises Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, Iran, Philippines and Singapore.

The Asian Team Championships, which include men’s and women’s events, see squads of four players compete in best-of-three-match ties. Action began on Monday with pool stage ties.

Top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals and finals, while the remaining teams will play a knockout competition to decide final places.

On Monday, Pakistan had got off to a flying start, pulling off wins against Chinese Taipei and Korea. They will take on Qatar in their last pool match on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2022