Aichi-Nagoya, 26 September (H.S.): Indian squash player Anahat Singh produced a stunning comeback to defeat Japan’s world No. 6 Satomi Watanabe 3-2 and book her place in the women’s singles final at the 2026 Asian Games. Anahat fought back from two games down in the semi-final to win three games in a row and seal a memorable victory.

Ranked 17th in the world, Anahat was tested by Watanabe in the opening two games. The Japanese player effectively used changes of pace, angles and a variety of shots to take the first game 11-9 and the second 13-11.

Two games down, Anahat displayed remarkable composure in the third game. She was trailing 8-10 at one stage, with Watanabe having two game points, but the Indian saved both and then put together a run of points to take the game 12-10.

The third-game victory lifted Anahat’s confidence, and she adopted an attacking approach in the fourth game to win 11-6. With the match level at 2-2, the Indian maintained the pressure in the deciding game. Anahat won the fifth game 11-3 to complete a 3-2 victory and advance to the final.

Anahat will now compete for the gold medal in the women’s singles final.

It was a highly successful Saturday for India at the Asian Games in terms of medals. The Indian women’s kabaddi team defeated Iran 37-34 to win the gold medal. In athletics, Sawan Barwal won the silver medal in the men’s marathon with a national record time of 2:11:37.

In shooting, the Indian team of Esha Chouksey, Tilottama Sen and Vidarsha Vinod won the silver medal in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions event. In the individual final, Tilottama finished fourth and Vidarsha fifth.

In mixed doubles squash, Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar won the bronze medal after losing to a Hong Kong pair in the semi-finals.

In badminton, Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda won their respective matches to advance to the pre-quarter-finals, while Lakshya Sen suffered a defeat against Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew in the second round of the men’s singles competition.

In boxing, Kapil Pokharia advanced to the quarter-finals of the men’s 91kg category after defeating Iran’s Sam Estaki 5-0. In the 55kg category, Jadumani Singh was eliminated after losing to the Philippines’ Carlo Paalam.

India also put in a strong showing in archery. The Indian women’s compound team of Chikita Taniparthi, Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Prithika Pradeep finished second in the team qualification round. In the men’s recurve team qualification, the trio of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Neeraj Chauhan and Yashdeep Bhoge finished third. Dhiraj also set Asian and national records in the individual qualification round.

In athletics, Tejaswin Shankar and Thaufiq Naushad continued their decathlon campaigns. Tejaswin topped the long jump and remained in contention for a medal. Meanwhile, Animesh Kujur advanced to the semi-finals of the men’s 200m.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar