Dipika Pallikal, Harinder Sandhu clinch gold at Asian mixed doubles Squash Championships

India clinched two medals overall at the Asian Games test event with Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh's bronze.

India's mixed doubles pair Dipika Pallikal and Harinder Singh clinched the top spot at the Asian Mixed Doubles Squash Championships held in Hangzhou, China. The third seed pair defeated Malaysia's Ivan Yuen and Rachel Arnold (2-0) in an easy encounter. Meanwhile young pairing of Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh won the bronze medal by defeating the top seeds.

Squash has appeared at every Asian Games from Bangkok 1998, and this year’s edition will be the first to feature a mixed doubles championship and to prepare for this, a precursor tournament (test event) has been held in Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre in China. A total of 21 countries from ten countries participated in the competition held between June 26th to 30th.

Deepika Pallikal was making her comeback after a year's break and was last seen competing at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham. The Indian pair defeated three Malaysian pairs en route to the title run. In the semi-final they got the better of seeds Aifa Azman and Kamal which ensured them a place in the final.

The young Indian duo of Anahat and Abhay lost a close semi-final match against Rachel and Ivan and settled for the bronze medal. Two weeks earlier India lost in the semi-finals to Malaysia at the Squash World Cup held in Chennai, India.

The Asian Games 2022 will now have five gold medals on offer with the inclusion of mixed doubles category.

Dipika Pallikal and Harinder Singh's road to title triumph

Round 1 - Bye

Qaurter-fianls - beat Ainaa Amani/Addeen idrakie (2-0)

Semi-finals - beat Aifa Azman/Syafiq Kamal (2-0)

Final - beat Ivan Yuen/Rachel Arnold (2-0)