Published: September 27, 2026 at 4:59 pm
Two Malaysians shattered a billion hopes as India’s Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh fell short of Asian Games 2026 gold medals and Olympic squash quotas in the women’s and men’s singles events respectively at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena on Sunday.
Anahat Singh lost the women’s final match to Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-7) while Abhay Singh lost the men’s final 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-5) against another Malaysian Ng Eain Yow.
Anahat, Abhay book final berths; Joshna-Velavan lose semis to settle for a bronze
Both Malaysian players were the defending Asian Games singles champions. The loss in the finals also denied the Indian squash players an opportunity to secure early LA 2028 Olympic quotas. The men’s and women’s singles champions at Aichi-Nagoya can earn LA 2028 Olympic quota places, subject to meeting the relevant qualification criteria, including being ranked inside the PSA world top 50 on May 22, 2028.
Anahat thoroughly outplayed by Siva
Anahat Singh, in the women’s final, was outplayed thoroughly in the opening two games. The Indian put up a sterner fight in game three but eventually went down after saving a match ball.
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The 18-year-old Anahat had earlier rallied from two games down to stun Japan’s world No. 6 Satomi Watanabe 3-2 (9-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-6, 11-3) in the women’s singles semifinals on Saturday, securing her place in the gold medal match.
Anahat Singh became the first Indian woman to win a silver medal in singles squash at the Asian Games. Pics: X
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Anahat defeated Au Yeong Wai Iynn of Singapore 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-7) and compatriot Tanvi Khanna (India) 3-0 (11-2, 11-5, 11-3) in the round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively.
Despite the loss, Anahat became the first Indian woman to win a silver medal in singles squash at the Asian Games. Dipika Pallikal (Incheon 2014 and Jakarta 2018) and Joshna Chinappa (Jakarta 2018) had won bronze. Anahat has the capability to change Indian Squash forever and an Indian interest can actually change world squash forever.
Sivasangari is on an insane comeback trail of her own. She was seriously good in juniors and was expected to take on the world following her compatriot Nicole David’s (squash legend) footsteps. But an unfortunate car accident broke her neck and she was in a place where it was deemed she’ll never walk again. From there she has come back to not just play but now quite regularly upset the world’s top 3 players (all Egyptians, squash is Egypt dominated). She has beaten Anahat in their last couple of encounters quite comfortably in straight games.
Abhay matches Ghosal’s effort
Earlier in the day, Abhay Singh, who had not dropped a single game on way to the title decider, went toe-to-toe against Ng Eain Yow in the opening game but lost. The 28-year-old fell off in the subsequent games to lose by three games.
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Abhay exhibits proper mentality monster behaviour and wears his heart on the sleeve. Very composed, self-assured yet gets the crowd going from time to time but on Sunday the Indian failed to match the defending champion.
Abhay Singh is only the second Indian to win silver in men’s singles at the Games, after Saurav Ghosal, who made the finals at Incheon 2014 and Hangzhou 2023 but lost
Abhay had earlier defeated Arkaradet Arkarahirunya of Thailand and Ravindu Laksiri of Sri Lanka in the round of 32 and 16, respectively. He beat Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue in the quarterfinals and Pakistan’s Muhammad Irfan in the semis to earn himself a title clash.
Abhay is only the second Indian to win silver in men’s singles at the Games, after Saurav Ghosal, who made the finals at Incheon 2014 and Hangzhou 2023 but lost. The Indian mixed doubles team of Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar had secured a bronze medal on Saturday.
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Indian players will have more medal opportunities in the team Asian Games 2026 squash team events which are scheduled to start from Monday.
