Hangzhou Asian Games | Abhay’s performance in the final is one for the history books

Abhay Singh, 23, a proud product of the Indian Squash Academy, Chennai, rose from the ashes to help India regain the men’s team gold medal in Hangzhou. Despite a below-par performance in the World Cup and PSA tournaments, Abhay persevered and was boosted by the High Performance Camp in Chennai prior to the Games. His performance in the final was a game-changer and he is on track to becoming a top-20 singles player in the world.

Abhay Singh is a proud product of the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai. The 23-year-old made his alma mater proud by rising from the ashes to help India regain the men’s team gold medal in Hangzhou with a dazzling performance in the third and final rubber against Pakistan in the summit clash.

It was an outstanding performance that will go down in history books as one of India’s finest wins in the Asian Games.

However, going into the Games, Abhay wasn’t in the best of form.

He fared below par in the World Cup, a mixed team competition in Chennai in June this year where India lost in the semifinals, and Abhay didn’t do well in the following PSA tournaments either.

As one has seen him since a cherubic 10-year-old at ISA, Cyrus Poncha, secretary of the Squash Rackets Federation of India said Abhay has come a long way, but maintains that he still has a long way to go. “After he lost his match to Pakistan’s Noor Zaman in the Pool match in the first rubber, we really pumped him up. He came back stronger, “ said Poncha.

Abhay won five PSA titles in 2022. His 2023 wasn’t great. However, he persisted.

According to Poncha, the High Performance Camp in Chennai a few weeks prior to the Games came as a boon to Abhay, who is ranked 69 in the world. “He really enjoyed the camp. He went to the Games refreshed,” he said.