New Delhi, Sep 10 (IANS): The draws and seedings have been announced for the singles, mixed doubles, and team squash events at the upcoming 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, with the Indian men’s team as the top seed and the women’s team seeded third.
Squash at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 will take place at the Nagoya Kinjo-Futo Arena, with the singles and mixed doubles events taking place from September 23-27 and the team events taking place from September 28-02.
The men’s team, represented by Abhay Singh, Veer Chotrani, Velavan Senthilkumar and Suraj Chand, is drawn in Pool A with Korea and China.
The women’s team, represented by Anahat Singh, Tanvi Khanna, Joshana Chinappa, Shameena Riaz, is placed in Pool C with Japan, China and Iran.
In the men’s singles, India’s Abhay Singh, who is aiming to become India’s first-ever individual champion, is seeded second, and Veer Manish Chotrani has been seeded fourth, with both the Indians receiving a bye in the opening round.
In women’s singles, Anahat Singh, who was part of the bronze-medal-winning women’s and mixed teams at the previous Asian Games, and Tanvi Khanna are seeded third and seventh, respectively, with the former receiving a bye in first-round and Tanvi starting her campaign against Dami Kim of Korea.
The singles competition will also serve as a qualification event for the LA28 Olympic Games, with the winners to become squash’s first-ever Olympians ahead of the sport’s Olympic debut in Los Angeles.
In the mixed doubles event, Malaysian pair Aifa Azman and Mohammad Syafiq Kamal are top seeds while India’s Velavan Senthilkumar and Joshana Chinappa are the third seeds. Another Indian duo, Suraj Kumar Chand and Shameena Riaz, are seeded ninth.
Both Indian pairs have received a bye in the opening round and will begin their campaigns against each other in the second round.
India head into the Asian Games after a fruitful campaign at Hangzhou 2023, where the country won five medals in squash, including two golds, one silver, and two bronze medals.
The men’s team won gold, while India also topped the podium in the mixed doubles event. The country added a silver medal in men’s singles through Saurav Ghosal and bronze medals in the women’s team and mixed team competitions.
Harinder Pal Sandhu, a gold medallist from the men’s team in Hangzhou, will be the coach.
India squad-
Men: Abhay Singh, Veer Chotrani, Velavan Senthilkumar, Suraj Chand
Women: Anahat Singh, Tanvi Khanna, Joshna Chinappa, Shameena Riaz
