Asian Games: Ahead of India vs Pakan squash final, here are the nuts and bolts of the thriller | Asian-games News

For a decade now, India has been ahead of the erstwhile giants Pakan on the squash circuit. But Saturday September 30th 2023 is the day to go out there and prove this, as India meet Pakan in the final. “It boils down to today to decide who is really the best,” National coach Cyrus Poncha said ahead of the final.
Describing the mood in the camp, he added, “There’s a mix of all emotions – of getting to the final, expectations of what can happen either way. We can’t compare Indo-Pak rivalry in squash to cricket. It’s like any other nationBut there’s massive stakes today, all matches will be close,” he stressed, dialling down the emotion, believing calm heads will prevail despite the crackle in the earlier group game.
Abhay’s emergence
Chennai’s Abhay Singh started as a kid at the city’s squash & triathlon academy, and from being a chub schoolgoer, he lost almost 20 kg as he grew out of his teens, showing immense determination to achieve squash fitness. On Friday, he pulled out the important first match against Addeen Idrakie to put India ahead, a day after he had suffered a scorching defeat at the hands of Pakan. “He showed great ability to go on the big stage and pull off a match so soon after going down to Pakan. He played a tight, sensible game against Malaysia and got India that win,” Poncha says.
Though he’s been around as a junior player, Abhay wasn’t at the top of his game initially in juniors. But the last two years have seen a turnaround. “Since turning pro couple of years ago, he’s put in huge effort in the quality of his game, shot selection and fitness,” the coach adds. Abhay won 5 Challenger tour events and saw a spurt in his confidence. He has a long way to go to crack Top 20, but played a sensational semifinal and will look to make amends from pool loss against Pakan, where he lost to Noor Zaman 3-1.
Pedigreed Noor Zaman
The order of the final is 3-1-2. Though Pakan might shuffle the order, that means Abhay potentially plays Noor Zaman, a member of Pakan’s Asian Junior squad that made finals in Chennai. Pakan has a good crop in juniors with Hamza Khan who won the junior world title after 37 years. Noor is the grandson of Pakan great Qamar Zaman, who won plenty in late 70s and 80s, and was British Open champ in 1975. He was known as ‘The Stroke Master’ and Noor inherits the shot making. “He’s just really supremely talented,” Poncha says about the 19-year-old.
Saurav Ghosal, the talisman
Saurav Ghosal is India’s inspirational talisman, the seniormost at age 37. Ghosal played possibly his best match against the talented strokemaker Eain Yow NG. Their previous few matches had been three setters, but Ghosal brought unreal consency to his game, and ability to curtail Eain’s shots. His backhand play was a masterclass in tight and straight corner angles.
The Kolkatan in the top 20 of the world has served Indian squash for two decades since his British juniors, and kept magnificent fitness levels to stay competitive all these years. His CWG bronze was horic last year, but he will hope to lead India out against Pakan at the biggest stage for squash.
Asim on the prowl
Muhammad Asim Khan is Pakan’s highest ranked, and holds the calibre to play big on his day. Ghosal decimated him with scores of 11-3, 11-5, 11-1 in the pool stage, but finals are a different proposition. Khan bounced back to beat Kuwait’s Abdullah Almezayen and will enter the finals on back of that confidence. Most Read
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Nasir Iqbal the dangerous starter if he plays Mahesh
With Mumbai lad Mahesh Mangaonkar scheduled to play the opening match as India’s third player, he potentially runs into Nasir Iqbal. Iqbal is 29, a former Top 30, who’s not been playing on the circuit for the past few months. “He’s a class act and holds an edge,” Poncha says.
Iqbal had a control hold over Mahesh in the pool match and won 3-1, but the lanky Indian will hope for a turnaround, with his experience of being around for many years.
The final will see India looking to avenge the pool loss, though it’s a tough battle. “We were expecting to beat Pakan in the pool match, believed we were better than them. But the 2-1 loss was a massive kick up our backside. It was a wakeup call. In the finals, we will look to do better, though it’s gonna be very close,” Poncha said.