Asian Games squash: Abhay Singh beats Pakistani opponent to reach final, Anahat also through

India's Abhay Singh sealed his place in the men's singles squash final at the Asian Games 2026 on Saturday, beating Pakistan's Muhammad Irfan in straight sets 3-0. The match ended 11-3, 12-10, 11-6.

Anahat Singh also booked her place in the women's singles final, becoming the first Indian woman to reach that stage. Both Abhay and Anahat are now close to qualifying directly for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if they win gold.

Abhay Singh, ranked 26th in the world, has become only the second Indian man after Saurav Ghosal to reach the Asian Games men's singles final. Ghosal won silver medals in 2014 and 2023.

Abhay laid the foundation for his win by taking the first set 11-3 against Irfan, who had beaten India's Veer Chotrani in Friday's quarter-final. In the second set, the Pakistani player fought back to level the score at 10-10, but Abhay held his nerve to win it 12-10 and take a 2-0 lead.

The third set followed the pattern of the first. Abhay built an early lead of four match points and gave Irfan no chance to recover, sealing his place in the final. He is likely to face a Pakistani opponent in the final, with Noor Zaman set to play Malaysia's Eain Yow Ng on Saturday evening.

Earlier, Anahat Singh made a strong comeback to beat Japan's world number six Satomi Watanabe 3-2 (9-11, 12-13, 12-10, 11-6, 11-3) and confirm her place in the women's singles final. The 18-year-old Indian lost the opening two games 9-11 and 11-13 before fighting back strongly in the third game. She was trailing 8-10 at one point but saved game points to win it 12-10.