India in two finals in Asian Doubles squash

CHENNAI: Abhay Singh will feature in two finals in the Asian Doubles Squash Championships in Johor (Malaysia) on Sunday.

On Saturday, he and Velavan Senthilkumar, the top seeds, stormed into the men’s doubles title-round with a commanding 11-9, 11-2 win over the Japanese pair of Tomotaka Endo and Naoki Hayashi in 23 minutes in the last-four stage.

Later, Asian Games medallist Abhay and the experienced Joshna Chinappa, the third seeds, defeated the Hong Kong pair of Cheng Nga Ching and Lai Cheuk Nam Matthew (HK) 11-8, 11-10 in the mixed doubles semifinals.

“I’m very pleased to be in both finals, winning two golds was the goal before we came here so that’s what we are focused on tomorrow (Sunday),” Abhay said.

“The men’s match was a comfortable 2-0 while the mixed match was a bit challenging, but still pleased to come through without dropping a game. Being in another finals of an Asian Championship is an honour, looking forward to converting them both,” he added.

Abhay and Joshna will meet second seed Tong Tsz Wing and Tang Ming Hong of Hong Kong for the mixed doubles title and Abhay and Velavan will lock horns with second seed Ong Sai Hung and Syafiq Kamal of Malaysia in the men’s doubles final.

“Solid performances by both pairs to reach the finals. Once the Asian Championships were announced the Squash Rackets Federation of India along with our strategic partner HCL held the National Championships from where the pairs were selected,” SRFI Secretary-General Cyrus Poncha said.