Asian Games 2026: India clinch men’s squash bronze after 1-2 defeat to Malaysia

Aichi-Nagoya: India's men's squash team won the bronze medal at the Asian Games 2026 as they lost 1-2 to Malaysia in the semifinal on Thursday.

The men's squash team's bronze came after the Indian women's team also lost 1-2 to Hong Kong in the semifinal to secure a bronze medal on the same day.

In the men's semifinal bout, India started with a loss in round 1 as Abhay Singh went down to Ng Eain Yo in all three games, 8-11, 8-11, 8-11.


Veer Chotrbrought the team level after defeating Malaysia's Sanjay Jeeva in straight games. Veer dominated the opening game 11-4 before winning the second 11-8 and the third 11-5 to put India 1-1 in the tie.

The decider then featured a marathon contest between India's Velavan Senthilkumar and Malaysia's Ameeshanraj Chandaran.

Velavan recovered from 7-9 down to take the opening game 12-10 after a series of long rallies.

However, Ameeshanraj responded strongly in the second game, winning it 11-6 to level the match at 1-1 and force a decider.

The Malaysian then won another closely fought game 11-8 before taking the fourth game 11-9 to win the match and seal Malaysia's place in the final against Pakistan.

Malaysia won the semifinal tie 2-1.

The men's team's bronze medal in squash took India's medal tally to five on Day 12 of the Asian Games 2026 on Thursday. India won two silver medals through wrestler Nitesh Siwach in the men's 97kg Greco-Roman category and sailors Manu Francis and Prince Noble in the men's skiff event. India also secured a bronze medal in the women's squash event, while T Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru won bronze in the men's compound individual archery event.