Squash World Cup: India suffered a defeat in the semifinal of the SDAT WSF Squash World Cup 2023 as the team went down to Malaysia by 0-3. Second seed India now bow out of the competition as fourth seed Malaysia qualify for the summit clash. They will now face the defending champions Egypt in Chennai.
The Indian players Joshna Chinappa, Saurav Ghosal, and Abhay Singh, all lost their respective games to their Malaysian counterparts. Sai Hung Ong first defeated Abhay Singh in a nail-biter opening encounter that lasted 37 minutes. He saved a sudden-death match ball before winning the clash in five games. The 18-year-old Aira Azman then defeated Joshna Chinappa 7-3, 7-3, 5-7, 7-4 to send Malaysia 2-0 up.
The Indian team needed two wins from Saurav Ghosal and Tanvi Khanna to keep their hopes alive but the World No.19 Ghosal suffered 7-5, 2-7, 7-6, 6-5 defeat at the hands of World No.134 Darren Pragasam.
After the win, Malaysia confirmed their place in the finals and are set to face top seed and defending champs Egypt. The top-seeded Egypt defeated Japan in another semifinal of the tournament. Karim El Hammamy, Fayrouz Aboelkheir, Aly Abou Eleinen, and Kenzy Ayman, all registered wins in their respective encounters. The final is set to be held on June 17 in Chennai.
Earlier, India kept their dominance in the Pool stage. The Indian quartet of Abhay Singh, Joshna Chinappa, Saurav Ghosal, and Tanvi Khanna won all the three games in the Pool stage. They defeated Hong Kong by 4-0. The four kept their dominance high as they defeated South Africa by a similar 4-0 margin. India then edged past Japan with a 3-1 win Chinappa defeated the World No.18 Satomi Watanabe.
