Nasir wins gold in SAG squash, Maria clinches silver

KARACHI: Pakistan won one gold, two silver, and one bronze medal in squash on Monday in South Asian Games in Guwahati.

The final of individual men’s category was an all-Pakistan affair as second seed Nasir Iqbal defeated compatriot Farhan Zaman 14-12, 11-7, 11-9.

Maria Toor Pakai, however, lost to top seed Joshana Chinappa of India 12-10, 7-11, 9-11, 7-11 in the final of women’s individual category.

Pakistan guaranteed gold in men’s event when Farhan stunned top seed Saurav Ghosal of India 11-4, 11-5, 10-12, 11-5 in the semi-finals on Sunday and Nasir won against Harinderpal Sandhu of India 11-7, 12-14, 11-7, 6-6 (retired) in the second semi-final.

In women’s semi-finals, top seed Joshana Chinappa of India defeated Sadia Gul of Pakistan 11-9, 11-7, 11-9 and Maria beat Mihilya Methsarani of Sri Lanka 11-8, 6-11, 11-2, 11-2.

Pakistan will now take part in team events.

In 2010 Dhaka Games, Pakistan won the gold medals in singles and team events. Aamir Atlas Khan was the winner and Farhan Mehboob the runner up. Indians Sandeep Jangra and Gaurav Nandrajog settled for the bronze.

In the team event, Pakistan beat India 2-0 for the gold with Mansoor Zaman beating Ravi Dixit and Aamir edging out Nandrajog.