12 hours ago
Final against Pak pair more mental than physical: Squash player Abhay Singh
CHENNAI: 'IT was not a game of squash, it was a psychological war.' This was Abhay Singh's candid confession about the gruelling men's doubles final against the Pakistani duo of Noor Zaman and Nasir Iqbal. He was partnering Velavan Senthilkumar and won the match 9-11, 11-5, 11-5. On Thursday (June 26), India made history by winning all three events at the 2nd Asian squash doubles championships in Malaysia.
Abhay, who won two of the events (men's doubles and mixed doubles), spoke about the challenges and what the wins mean to India.
The men's final against Pakistani pair was a see-saw battle. Abhay and Velavan got momentum on their side in the second set after losing the first. 'It was just down to who was more mentally strong and patient," he told this daily. "In the hour-mark, I spoke to Velavan and we both decided that we can keep going for another 60 minutes if we wanted. I think that was the right call to take because we knew that over time both the Pakistan boys will fold. I knew we were both mentally stronger as a team and physically stronger as well.'
After playing the men's doubles final, which lasted for 88 minutes, Abhay turned up to the mixed final pairing up with teen sensation Anahat Singh. He had to make do with a 15-minute break before facing the Malaysian pair of Ameeshenraj Chandran and Rachel Arnold. 'After that final, the whole team was worried about how I was going to come back. I quickly ran for a cold shower, had a few bananas and had a lot of electrolytes. The main concern was not to cramp,' he said.
