Abhay Singh guides India to two gold medals at the Asian Doubles Squash Championships
Indian squash player Abhay Singh took home two titles from the doubles events at the Asian Doubles Squash Championships in Johor, Malaysia. He stood out in two events, thereby claiming a 'double'.
The top seeds Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar captured the men's doubles title. The Indian duo edged past Malaysian second seeds Ong Sai Hung and Syafiq Kamal 11-4, 11-5.
Singh paired with Joshna Chinappa and won the mixed doubles title. The duo, seeded third, faced off the challenge from second-seeded pairing of Hong Kong, Tong Tsz Wing and Tang Ming Hong, winning 11-8, 10-11, 11-5 in the final.
Senthilkumar was happy with the performance of the duo, stating that they were confident and had improved match by match in this tournament.
He feels that the revival of the National Doubles Championships sponsored by SRFI and HCL helped them get their momentum back. After the match, he was quoted as saying (via The Hindu):
“I’m very happy with the way Abhay and I performed this week. We were confident and got better as we advanced in the tournament. It was timely of the SRFI and HCL to revive the National doubles championships after a long gap as it allowed us to gain momentum.”
Moreover, Joshna, who is the Padma Shri awardee, was thrilled to be back in India colors after a five-month lay-off because of knee surgery. Doubles, according to Chinappa, would serve as a kind of build-up act before she got back on the PSA Tour.
“It means so much to me to play for India again, especially since I was out of action for the last five months following a knee surgery. Playing doubles was a great opportunity to return to India action first before I get back on the PSA Tour.”
The mixed doubles final never lacked excitement, especially with a keenly contested second game.
Abhay Singh was making strides from Day 1
Abhay Singh's performance at the championships was the talk of the first day on July 4. The Indian contingent had a successful start as four of its five representatives emerged winners.
In the men's doubles group stage, Singh and Senthilkumar won against the Philippines' David Pelino and Reymark Begonia 2-0 (11-4, 11-6) to start things off.
That set the stage for the rest of the tournament as India won two titles.