Incheon: The Indian squash players wrapped up a historic performance in the Asian Games, clinching an unprecedented men's team gold after the women's side settled for its first ever silver here on Saturday.
With a silver and a bronze, through Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal respectively in the individual events, the squash players signed off with their best ever medal haul in the Games.
The icing on the cake was provided by the men's team, led by Ghosal, which clinched the historic gold after edging out Malaysia in the summit clash. Ghosal played out of his skin to guide India to a 2-0 win against Malaysia in an energy-sapping contest that lasted two hours and 26 minutes at the Yeorumul Squash Courts here.
It was 25-year-old Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu, who started the proceedings for India on a positive note as he saw off Iskandar Mohamad Azlan Bin 11-8 11-6 8-11 11-4 in the opening match that lasted 58 minutes.
World No.16 Ghosal then bounced back from a game down to eke out a 6-11 11-7 11-6 12-14 11-9 win over former world no. 7, Ong Beng Hee in a gruelling 88-minute clash to give India a healthy 2-0 lead.
The Kolkata-player, who had a 1-1 record against Ong before this match, had to dig deep against the Malaysian, who turned the tables in the fourth game which lasted 19 minutes.
In the decider, Ghosal managed to keep his nose ahead and reached the match point at 10-8. Ong saved one but the Indian closed the door on his rival on the next opportunity to bring joy to the country's contingent here.
The inconsequential third match between Mangaonkar Mahesh and Mohd Adnan Mohd Nafiizwan Bin didn't take place after the Indian withdrew from the contest.
Indian archers clinch historic gold:
India earned their second gold medal in the 17th Asian Games after the men's compound archery team bagged the yellow metal by getting the better of South Korea, here on Saturday.
The Indian women's compound team, meanwhile, settled for a bronze after beating Iran in the third-place play-off.
The Indian men's trio of Abhishek Verma, Rajat Chauhan and Sandeep Kumar eked out a narrow 227-225 victory over the hosts to give the country their second gold medal in eight days. Shooter Jitu Rai had earned the top position on the first day of the competition.
(Photo: AP)
In a closely-fought contest on Saturday, the South Korean team of Choi Yong-hee, Min Li-hong and Yang Young-ho fell short by just two points, even as the Indians held on to their nerves to win an all-important battle. Indian men had 12 10s as compared to 13 by their opponents.
