Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], September 24 (ANI): The pairing of Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar made it to the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles squash competition at the ongoing Asian Games, coming out on top against their compatriots Suraj Chand and Shameena Riaz on Thursday.
Veterans Joshna and Velavan won the clash 2-0 (with a scoreline of 11-7, 11-10), as per ESPN.
The first game was an easy one for Joshna and Velavan, winning it 11-7. The second game saw more competition as the younger pair of Suraj and Shameena fought back from 7-9 to level the score at 9-9. However, the experience of Joshna and Velavan proved to be too much.
Earlier, Indian wushu athlete Roshibina Devi secured her second consecutive silver medal at the Asian Games, losing to China's Zhang Xiaoyu in the women's sanda 60 kg final.
Roshibina, also a 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games silver medalist, lost both rounds by a 0-5 scoreline, and the Chinese opponent sealed the match 2-0, as per ESPN.
Having already won a 2018 Asian Games bronze, Roshibina becomes the first Indian woman to win three back-to-back medals in Wushu at the Asian Games.
Roshibina enjoyed an impressive run in Japan, which included beating 2023 world champion Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy of Vietnam.
On Wednesday, Roshibina defeated Indonesia’s Thania Kusumaningtyas 2-0 in the semi-final to secure her place in the title clash.
This is India's 14th medal at the ongoing event, having already won a gold, adding the sixth silver to the tally. India has also won seven bronze medals so far.
Earlier, the pairing of Satnam Singh and Salman Khan secured a bronze medal in the men's double sculls final on Thursday.
The duo clocked a time of 6:13.25, just 3.48 seconds short of China's gold medalists Yi Xudi / Nie Yide and 2.76 seconds behind the silver medalists Mekhrojbek Mamatkulov / Pavel Sorin, as per ESPN.
Satnam-Salman maintained the second position at 500m, 1000m and 1500m but fell away towards the end. At one point, they were just half a second behind the Chinese pair.
In men's singles sculls competitions, Balraj Panwar missed out on a medal, finishing fourth. Balraj managed to stay second at 500m, 1000m and 1500m marks, but later found himself outdone by Shakhboz Kholmurzaev of Uzbekistan and Tatsuya Sakurama of Japan during the final 500 m stretch, and he lost the medal.
Balraj maintained a five-second lead over Sakurama ahead of the final stretch but finished eight seconds short of him, clocking a time of 6:54.80, 15 seconds behind the gold medalist Zhiwei Deng of China. (ANI)
Asian Games 2026: Joshna-Velavan reach mixed doubles squash quarterfinals
