Anahat, Abhay end with silver medals

Nagoya: There were high hopes from Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh to secure Olympic berths with gold-winning show in squash but the Indian players left with silver medals after straight-game defeats in both women’s and men’s singles finals.

Abhay Singh, ranked 24th in the world, was beaten 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 by defending champion Ng Eain Yow in 44 minutes. After a tightly contested opening game, the Malaysian controlled the tempo and length and repeatedly forced Abhay into difficult retrievals.

Abhay admitted that the Malaysian’s experience in major matches made a difference and said he would return to the drawing board, while stressing that another route to Olympic qualification remains available.

Anahat Singh, 18, also had to settle for silver after losing 4-11, 4-11, 7-11 to Malaysia’s world No. 5 and defending champion Sivasangari Subramaniam in 27 minutes.

Anahat, the first Indian to win the world junior title, was unable to mount a comeback like she did against world number six Satomi Watanabe of Japan on Saturday. Having closely watched the Anahat-Satomi semifinal, Sivasangari came up with a clear plan and executed it to perfection.

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