Sportstar·India·Friday, October 9, 2026 at 12:10 PM UTC

Asian Games 2026: Why India’s squash campaign was a mixed bag despite five medals

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Nihit Sachdeva

No Indian man or woman had ever won a singles gold, with Saurav Ghosal’s silver in 2014 and 2023 being the best results. But with the added incentive of an Olympic ticket, could that change? It almost did.

Updated : Oct 09, 2026 17:40 IST , Chennai - 4 MINS READ

India’s Anahat Singh, Abhay Singh, Joshna Chinnapa, Velavan Senthilkumar and others take selfies after winning silver and bronze medals in the women’s, men's singles and mixed doubles events at the ongoing 20th Asian Games. | Photo Credit: PTI

The Indian squash contingent grabbed medals in all five events at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, something it could not achieve in Hangzhou. But was it a better performance than 2023? The answer is in the details.

With the sport set to make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles Summer Games in 2028, the Asiad in Japan became the first qualifying event to guarantee spots for the singles gold medallists.

No Indian man or woman had ever won a singles gold, with Saurav Ghosal’s silver in 2014 and 2023 being the best results. But with the added incentive of an Olympic ticket, could that change? It almost did.

Anahat Singh, who made her Asian Games debut at the age of 15 in Hangzhou and featured only in the women’s team and mixed doubles events, entered the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games as the Junior World Champion and ranked 20th in the senior PSA Rankings. The Indian youngster needed just 38 minutes to defeat Singapore’s Wai Iynn Au Yeong and compatriot Tanvi Khanna in straight games and reach the semifinals, where she faced her first big test — Japanese World No. 5 Satomi Watanabe.

Satomi had multiple match balls to seal a straight-games win over Anahat but, from there, the teenager pulled off a Houdini act for the ages, taking the contest 3-2 (9-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-6, 11-3) to become the first-ever Indian women’s singles finalist.

While beating Satomi was a tough task in itself, a bigger challenge awaited Anahat in the all-important summit clash — Malaysian World No. 5 and reigning champion Sivasangari Subramaniam.

Unlike the Japanese player, who perhaps wilted under pressure after failing to take her opportunities, Sivasangari dominated Anahat from the beginning to register a 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-7) win in the final.

The result suggested that the Indian prodigy perhaps needs a bit more experience to reach the next level.

Taking over the mantle from Saurav in men’s singles wasn’t going to be easy, but Indian No. 1 Abhay Singh did as well as he could.

Seeded second in Nagoya, he did not drop a game on his way to the final, where, like Anahat, he also lost 0-3 (9-11, 5-11, 5-11) to Eain Yow Ng of Malaysia, the defending champion and top seed.

Unlike Hangzhou, where India had a gold and a bronze in the mixed doubles event, there was no scope for a double-podium finish this time once the draw came out — the two Indian pairs were pitted against each other directly in the round of 16.

Veteran Joshna Chinappa, playing her seventh Asian Games, and Velavan Senthilkumar got the better of Shameena Riaz and Suraj Chand before cruising through their quarterfinal against a Filipino pair.

Taking over the mantle from Saurav in men’s singles wasn’t going to be easy, but Indian No. 1 Abhay Singh did as well as he could.

Taking over the mantle from Saurav in men’s singles wasn’t going to be easy, but Indian No. 1 Abhay Singh did as well as he could. | Photo Credit: R. V. MOORTHY

In the semifinals, Joshna and Velavan led Hong Kong’s Lee Ka Yi and Tang Ming Hong 10-7 in the decider and yet failed to close it out. At 10-10, there was a controversial call as the Indians seemed to have converted their fourth match point, but the Malaysian referee decided to give a “yes, let” after Lee-Tang argued that the Indian pair had started celebrating before the point was over, which acted as a distraction. Joshna-Velavan should not have let the semifinal get into that territory in the first place.

In the team events, while the men were the defending champions and among the gold-medal favourites once again, the women too had the depth to better their runner-up finishes from 2014 and 2018. Both settling for bronze in Aichi-Nagoya was disappointing.

India followed up its haul of two gold, one silver and two bronze medals in Hangzhou with two silver and three bronze in Japan. There were some positive takeaways, but overall, given the quality of the squad, it was a slightly underwhelming performance.

Published on Oct 09, 2026

Asian Games 2026: Why India’s squash campaign was a mixed bag despite five medals

No Indian man or woman had ever won a singles gold, with Saurav Ghosal’s silver in 2014 and 2023 being the best results. But with the added incentive of an Olympic ticket, could that change? It almost did.

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