3 MEDALS CONFIRMED FROM SQUASH STARS
Indian shuttlers suffer shock defeats at Games
Jakarta, Aug. 24: Top Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy were knocked out of the 18th Asian Games after suffering shock defeats in the second round of the men’s singles competition here on Friday.
It was a disappointing end for India’s campaign in men’s singles as Srikanth and Prannoy failed to raise the bar after their early exits from the Nanjing World Championship early this month.
After Srikanth lost 21- 23 1921 to Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong in a 43- minute duel, Prannoy too followed suit going down 12- 21 21- 15 15- 21 to Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen in a 65- minute contest, much to the dismay of Indian fans.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, however, brought some cheers after reaching the quarterfinals with a thrilling 21- 17 16- 21 21- 19 win over higherranked Malaysian combination of Chow Mei Kuan and Lee Meng Yean in women’s doubles.
However, the Indian duo will have to find a way to outwit
their next opponents Chinese third s e e d s
C h e n Qingchen and
Jia Yifan on Saturday for a chance to win a medal. Srikanth, a former world number one, who had clinched a silver at the Commonwe a l t h Games besides leading the mixed team to the coveted gold, failed to outwit the 28th ranked Wong Wing Ki.
Srikanth came into the match with a 5- 2 head- to- head record against Wong Wing Ki but it didn’t matter in the end as the Hong Kong shuttler proved to be a better player. He put up a tough defence and produced more precise strokes to outwit the Indian. Jakarta: India were on Friday assured of three medals in squash competition of the 18th Asian Games with Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal advancing to the semifinals of their respective singles events here.
As expected in terms of seeding, top seed Saurav beat compatriot Harinder Pal Sandhu in four games 9- 11, 11- 7, 11- 7, 11- 7 in the men’s singles quarterfinal before Dipika recorded an easy 11- 5, 11- 6, 11- 8 win over Japanese Kobayashi Misaki in women’s singles.
Joshna’s was the last scheduled among the Indians and she had a fight in hand against Hong Kong’s Chan Ho Ling. Joshna won 11- 5,12- 10, 5- 11, 12- 10 to be assured of her first medal in the Asian Games in singles event. This was India’s best performance in singles competition in the Games, bettering the two medals won in Incheon four years ago when Saurav secured a silver and Dipika claimed a bronze. Winning the first game with a touch of class, Sandhu brought memories of the Mumbai Nationals.