India’s men’s squash team signed off with bronze medal after losing their semifinal match against Malaysia at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Thursday.The men’s team lost 1-2 to Malaysia, with Veer Chotrani’s comeback win keeping India in the contest before Velavan Senthilkumar’s defeat ended their hopes of reaching the final.Abhay Singh had opened the tie against Malaysia’s Eain Yow, with India hoping to reach final to repeat their gold-medal performance from Hangzhou 2022. However, the 28-year-old lost 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8) in the opening match.Chotrani then kept India’s hopes alive with a 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-5) win over Sanjay Jeeva.With the semifinal tied at 1-1, Velavan faced Ameeshenraj Chandaran in the deciding match. Despite winning the first game, Velavan lost 3-1 (12-10, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9), handing Malaysia a place in the final.The result meant India could not defend the men’s team gold they won at the 2022 Asian Games (played in 2023) in Hangzhou.Earlier in the day, the Indian women’s team also lost 1-2 to Hong Kong in the semifinal and won bronze.India were hoping to better their Hangzhou 2022 performance, but Anahat Singh’s opening-match defeat put them under pressure. The 18-year-old world No. 17 squandered four match points before losing 2-3 (11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 11-13, 10-12) to world No. 25 Sin Yuk Chan in a match that went to five games.World No. 73 Tanvi Khanna then brought India back into contention with a 1-3 (4-11, 13-11, 11-9, 13-11) win over world No. 40 Ka Yi Lee.However, veteran Joshna Chinappa could not complete the comeback. The former world top-10 player lost in straight games to world No. 39 Ho Tze Lok, giving Hong Kong the tie 2-1.
