India make semis despite loss to Malaysia, confirm a medal

Hangzhou, Sep 28 (PTI) Indian women’s squash team assured themselves of at least a bronze medal despite being blanked 0-3 by Malaysia in their final pool B match at the Asian Games, here on Thursday.

Malaysia and India took the top-two spots in their pool to make the semifinals which guarantee them at least a bronze. In squash the two losing semifinalists also win bronze.

India began the day with veteran Joshna Chinappa enduring a 6-11, 2-11, 8-11 defeat to Subramaniam Sivasangari in 21 minutes.

In the second match, Tanvi Khanna squandered a 2-1 lead before going down to Commonwealth Games gold medallist Aifa Binti Azman 9-11, 11-1, 7-11, 13-11, 11-5.

In the concluding league match, 15-year-old Anahat Singh went down to Malaysia’s Rachel Mae Arnold in straight sets (7-11, 7-11, 12-14).

India had earlier beaten their opening three matches against Pakistan (3-0), Nepal (3-0) and Macau (3-0).