Asian Games: India clinches gold in squash mixed-doubles event

The Indian pair of Dipika Pallikal and Harinderpal Singh displayed an impressive performance to secure the gold in the ongoing edition of the Asian Games.

Hangzhou: India's medal reign at the ongoing Asian Games continued on Thursday as the duo of seasoned campaigner Dipika Pallikal and Harinderpal Singh clinched the gold in the mixed doubles category in squash.

The Indian duo of Dipika and Harinder displayed brilliant strokeplay right from the beginning but it was a thrilling encounter between them and the Malaysian pair of Aifa Binti Azman and Mohammad Syafiq Bin Mohd Kamalin in the summit clash. The first set was going neck-to-neck but the Indian pair emerged victorious to pocket it by a scoreline of 11-10.

In the second game, India had taken the lead of 9-3 but their opponents bounced back bagging six consecutive points and levelled the scores at 9-9. Harinder then came up with a couple of backhands to take two decisive points and win the set by 11-10.

The brilliant show from the Indian duo helped them add the 20th gold to the medal tally and cement India's fourth position in the medal standings. Earlier, the Indian duo beat Hong Kong's Lee Ka Yi and Wong Chi by 2-1 in the semi-final by 7-11, 11-7 and 11-9.

Overall, Indian athletes have come up with a lot of remarkable moments in the current edition of the Asian Games and they are closing down towards their target of 100 medals in the competition.