Aichi-Nagoya: Indian squash player Anahat Singh staged a remarkable comeback from two games down to defeat Japan’s world No. 6 Satomi Watanabe 3-2 and enter the women’s singles final at the Asian Games on Saturday.
Ranked 17th in the world, Anahat was under pressure from the outset as Watanabe used changes of pace and precise angles to edge the first two games 11-9 and 13-11. The Japanese player moved within one game of securing the contest.
Anahat, however, refused to concede the match and produced her best squash when facing elimination. She saved two game points after trailing 8-10 in the third game before taking four consecutive points to win 12-10 and extend the semifinal.
The Indian carried that momentum into the fourth game, taking control of the rallies and winning 11-6 to draw level at 2-2.
Anahat then completed the turnaround in emphatic fashion, attacking from the start of the deciding game and pulling away to an 11-3 victory. The win secured her a place in the gold-medal match.
In badminton, Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after recording wins over Kazakhstan’s Makhsut Tajibullayev and Malaysia’s Wong Ling Ching respectively.
Lakshya Sen, however, bowed out of the men’s singles competition after suffering defeat against Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew in the second round.
