NEW DELHI: A nerve-wracking gold medal win in men's squash event was followed by a brutal, one-sided thrashing on the hockey field as India bossed neighbouring Pakistan, twice on Day 7 of the Hangzhou Asian Games.
After the men's squash team registered an epic 2-1 win in the final to clinch the Asiad gold after 8 years, Harmanpreet Singh and co. took Pakistan for a ride in a 10-2 win, recording India's biggest-ever win over the arch-rivals in a the Pool A match.
With the thrashing, Indian hockey team also qualified for the semis in the men's hockey competition.
Earlier in the day, Abhay Singh won the battle of attrition against Noor Zaman for the biggest prize of his career as top seeds India regained the squash gold.
Indian men's team was expected to step on the top of podium after eight years with its main challenge coming from Malaysia and Pakistan. The Saurav Ghosal-led side managed to see off both the opponents on their way to glory.
The win in the final against Pakistan came after the loss to the arch-rivals in the league stage.
Zaman, ranked 113, had got the better of world number 69 Abhay in that contest earlier this week and for the major part of the match on Saturday, it looked going in Pakistan's favour again.
1/10:Hangzhou Asian Games: India win gold in tennis and squash on Day 7
2/10:India win gold in tennis and squash on Day 7
<p>India’s tennis pair Rutuja Bhosale and Rohan Bopanna won the gold after defeating Chinese Taipei’s Liang En-shuo and Tsung-Hao Huang in the mixed doubles final at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.<br /></p>PTI
3/10:India win gold in tennis and squash on Day 7
<p>Abhay Singh won the battle of attrition against Noor Zaman for the biggest prize of his career as top seeds India regained the Asian Games squash gold with an epic 2-1 win over Pakistan at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.<br /></p>PTI
4/10:India win gold in tennis and squash on Day 7
<p>Indian shooters Sarabjot Singh and Divya Thadigol Subbaraju won the silver medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team final at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.<br /></p>PTI
5/10:India win gold in tennis and squash on Day 7
<p>Indian long-distance runners Kartik Kumar and Gulveer Singh bagged the silver and bronze medals respectively in the men's 10000m race at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.<br /></p>PTI
6/10:India win gold in tennis and squash on Day 7
<p>Kidambi Srikanth rallied his way to a thrilling win in a tense decider as India kept alive their hopes of winning a first-ever gold medal at the Asian Games, reaching the men's team championships final with a 3-2 win over South Korea.<br /></p>PTI
7/10:India win gold in tennis and squash on Day 7
<p>Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee shocked world champion Chinese pair Chen Meng and Yidi Wang to enter the women's doubles semifinals, assuring India a historic table tennis medal at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.<br /></p>AFP
8/10:India win gold in tennis and squash on Day 7
<p>India’s Preeti Pawar qualifies for the semi-final by defeating Zhaina Shekerbekova of Kazakhstan 4-1 in the women’s 54kg category in boxing at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. With this win, she also qualifies for the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024.<br /></p>
9/10:India win gold in tennis and squash on Day 7
<p>Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain beats South Korea's Suyeon Seong to enter the semifinals of the women's 75kg category at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.<br /></p>
10/10:India win gold in tennis and squash on Day 7
<p>Skipper Harmanpreet Singh showcased his scoring prowess, finding the back of the net on four occasions as India hammered Pakistan 10-2 in a one-sided Pool A match at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on Saturday. The win marked India's biggest-ever triumph over the arch-rivals.<br /></p>With the final locked at 1-1 after Ghosal and Nasir Iqbal won their respective singles, the gold was going to be decided in the match between 25-year-old Abhay and teenager Zaman.
Zaman led 9-7 in the fourth game and had two match balls at 10-8 in the deciding game but the Indian somehow managed to turn it around for a memorable win. The final scoreline read 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10.
In the evening, skipper Harmanpreet led from the front as he himself found the net four times as a rampaging India brushed aside Pakistan of the hockey field.
Harmanpreet scored in the 11th, 17th, 33rd and 34th minutes while Varun Kumar (41st and 54th) struck twice. Mandeep Singh (8th), Sumit (30th), Samsher Singh (46th) and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (49th) were the other goal getters.
Pakistan reduced the margin through Muhammad Khan (38th) and Abdul Rana (45th) as India toyed their opponents for large part of the match.
The contest was the 180th match between the two teams and the 8-goal margin win was the biggest-ever in the history of India-Pakistan hockey.
India's earlier biggest victory margin was 7-1 against Pakistan registered in 2017.
Pakistan's 7-1 win in the final of 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi was their biggest win against India.
India, thus, exacted revenge of that humiliating loss 41 years ago though Saturday's match.
India collected 12 points from four consecutive wins to stay on top of the pool. India will play Bangladesh on October 2 in their last Pool A match.
(With inputs from PTI)
