According to the National Coach Cyrus Poncha, the astute youngster first stretched his Malaysian opponent and left him tired early to take the first game. “From there he hiked the pace and the effect was Hun could not handle the intense pressure. Velavan won the next two games conceding just 2 points in all to give India a bright start,” he said.

Next came Abhay Singh, who has been improving leaps and bounds and this was the moment that sought his best. The Chennai-based ISA trainee looked hesitant to start with against Darren Rahul, lost the first game and then from a 7-2 lost the second too. But never to be underestimated, Abhay sprung back strongly and bringing in an element of aggression in grabbed the third game but once again he was in doldrums in the fourth. But he clung on fighting, even saved a match point to turn the game around. That undid his opponent as Abhay took control, positioned himself deeper in the forecourt in the deciding fifth game to keep volleying winners against the tiring Malaysian and carve out a sensational win and bring India the gold medal-winning margin.

The SRFI Patron Mr N. Ramachandran expressed happiness over the Indian show. “After the British Junior Open success and now the Asian championship, it is clear junior squash in the country is on a firm foundation, thanks to the structured training that was started more than a decade ago. My congratulations to the entire team for winning the Asian crown again. ”

Girls: India bt Chinese Taipei 3-0 (Aishwarya Bhattarcharya bt Liu Yung-Chi 11-2, 11-7, 11-2; Vedika Arun bt Hsiao Nai-Wen 11-4, 11-2. 11-8; Sanya Vats bt Chen Pin Yu 11-1,11-1, 11-6