HANGZHOU: In a feisty clash, Nasir Iqbal kept his calm and won crucial points to help Pakistan not only edge arch-rivals India but also book their ticket to the semi-finals of the men’s squash team event at the Asian Games on Wednesday.

With the Pool ‘A’ tie level at 1-1, Nasir battled to a 11-6, 13-11, 9-11, 11-8 victory over Mahesh Mangaokar in the decisive third match and win the tie for Pakistan, who have now won four on the trot having earlier blanked Singapore 3-0.

Noor Zaman gave Pakistan the early advantage when he won 11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8 against Abhay Singh only for Saurav Ghosal to bring India back into the tie by thrashing Muhammad Asim 11-3, 11-5, 11-1.

With a raucous crowd having gathered at the Hangzhou Oly­m­pic Sports Centre, it set the stage for a 58-minute duel between Nasir and Mangaokar.

Both players put their bodies on the line in a game in which they often clanged into each other and disagreed over whose fault it was.

Having lost the opening two games, Mangaokar revived Indian hopes when he clinched the third and then went 5-3 up in the fourth. But Nasir soon levelled the contest and secured the win for his side, avenging a loss for the women’s team a day earlier at the Games.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan didn’t lose a single game as they dispatched Singapore with ease.

Noor downed Aaron Jon Widjaja Liang 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 before Asim sealed victory by beating Samuel Shan Mu Kang 11-2, 12-10, 11-9. Nasir outclassed Jerome Clement Jin Ming Aw 11-3, 11-5, 11-5 in the final match of the tie.

The women’s team bounced back from twin losses on Tuesday by easing past Nepal 3-0 in their Pool ‘B’ tie.

Noor-ul-Ain Ijaz opened with a 11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8 victory over Krishna Thapa before Noor-ul-Huda Sadiq blanked Bipana Bhlon 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 and Mehwish Ali closed out the win by beating Swasthani Shrestha 11-8, 12-10, 11-6.

DISAPPOINTMENTS ELSEWHERE

Apart from the squash victories, Pakistan endured a disappointing day across other disciplines.

The only victory came at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium where Faizan Zahoor and Mohammad Shah Khan downed Nepal’s Rubin Maharjan and Sanyog Kapali in their men’s doubles table-tennis round-of-64 clash 11-8, 11-4, 11-7.

Both Faizan and Shah, however, exited the mixed doubles contest in the last-32 round with their respective partners.

Shah and Haiqa Hassan fought valiantly before going down 5-11, 11-7, 16-14, 7-11, 9-11 to Maldivian duo of Munsif Moosa Ahmed and Rafa Aishath Nazim while Faizan and Hoor Fawad fell 5-11, 3-11, 6-11 to Koen En Yew Pang and Ru Xin Wong of Singapore.

At the shooting range, neither Kishmala Talat nor Usman Chand made it to the finals of the women’s 25m pistol and the men’s skeet respectively.

Kishmala’s total of 579 after Wednesday’s rapid round saw her finish 12th, with the top eight advancing to the finals.

Usman also ended 12th with a score of 118 after qualifying stage two with the top six in his category advancing to the final.

Over at the Hangzhou Gymnasium, boxer Ibrahim fell to a 0-5 points defeat to Iraqi Qasim Ali Sarray in their men’s 57-63.5kg last-16 bout.

Pakistan also failed to make a splash in the pool, none of their swimmers or teams getting close to qualifying for the finals of their respective events.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2023