Indian men’s squash team loses 1-2 to Malaysia to claim bronze medal at Asian Games

Veer Chotrani will take on Pakistan’s Irfan Muhammad in the men’s singles quarter-final match at the ongoing 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan. (PTI Photo) The Indian men’s squash team won the bronze medal after losing their semi-final match against Malaysia at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Thursday.The men’s team lost 1-2 to Malaysia and Veer Chotrani’s comeback win kept India in the contest before Velavan Senthilkumar’s defeat ended their hopes of reaching the final.Abhay Singh opened the tie against Malaysia’s Eain Yow, with India hoping to reach the final and repeat their gold medal performance from Hangzhou 2022. However, the 28-year-old lost the opening match 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8).Chotrani then kept India’s hopes alive with a 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-5) win over Sanjay Jeev.With the semi-finals tied 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), giving 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 (held in 2023) in Hangzhou.Earlier in the day, the Indian women’s team also lost 1-2 to Hong Kong in the semi-finals to claim the bronze.India were hoping to improve on their performance at Hangzhou 2022, but Anahat Singh’s defeat in the opening match put them under pressure. The 18-year-old world number 17 missed four match points before losing 2-3 (11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 11-13, 10-12) to world number 25 Sin Yuk Chan in a match that lasted 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 number 39 Ho Tze Lok, giving Hong Kong a 2-1 draw.