Dipika Pallikal Karthik and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu won the gold medal in the mixed doubles competition in squash at the 19th Asian Games, beating a Malaysian pair in the final on Thursday.
The Indian pair defeated Malaysia's Aifa Binti Azman and Mohammad Syafiq bin Mohd Kamal 2-0 in straight games, coming back from game ball to win 11-10, 11-10.
The Indians were trailing in the first game but came back strongly to win the first game.
Hangzhou: India’s Dipika Pallikal and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu in action during the final match of Mixed Doubles squash event against Malaysia's Aifa Binti Azman and Mohammad Syafiq Bin Mohd Kamal at the 19th Asian Games, in Hangzhou, China, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
(Photo: PTI)
Dipika and Harinder had a commanding 9-2 lead in the second game but the Malaysians fought back with all their might to win eight points in a row to make it 10-9 in their favour.
The Indian did not lose hope and after a few replays following let balls, they won the next two points to win the match and secured India's second gold in squash, after the men won the Team title beating Pakistan in the final.
This takes India's gold medal tally to 20 and the total tally to 83. India are not done with squash yet as top male singles player Saurav Ghosal has made it to the men's singles final.
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