Mumbai: Abhay Singh had made it clear he wasn’t at the 2026 Asian Games for a bronze. The gold proved a bridge too far, resulting in a first silver for India’s No.1 male squash pro.
Abhay, ranked world No.26, lost to the 18th-ranked Malaysian defending champion Ng Eain Yow 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-5) in the men’s singles semi-final on Sunday.
The early Olympic spot for the 2028 LA Games was a near-miss but for Abhay, the headline-maker of India’s team gold at the previous Asian Games, earning a first individual medal is a decent achievement.
Abhay is only the second Indian man to win an individual squash medal at the Asian Games, after Saurav Ghosal. Yow had beaten Ghosal in the 2023 final, and Yow was out there beating another Indian in the 2026 final.
Abhay had never beaten the Malaysian before, and entered this match as the underdog.
Abhay made a positive start, but Yow’s class still earned him a three-point lead at the halfway mark of the first game. The contest was a slow burn of lengthy, gruelling rallies. Abhay was able to stay with Yow in them and keep pace on the scoreboard. Some delightful wrist work off the backhand made it 7-8 for Abhay, who was level a point later. Four points later though, despite the Indian saving a game ball, the Malaysian was ahead.
The physicality of that long and tight first game, perhaps, started to catch up with the 28-year-old Indian. After the first few points of the second game, Abhay began to fall behind, and Yow quickly surged ahead. The game was wrapped up soon, and Abhay needed to mount a monumental comeback. It wasn’t coming.
In all their past four meetings, Yow had beaten Abhay. But they last played each other in 2024, when the Indian was at a different stage of his career. From being ranked outside the top 50 all through that year, Abhay broke into the top 30 in the middle of 2025, and into the top 25 this year to solidify his status as the men’s India No.1.
Teaming up with James Willstrop, the former English world No.1 turned coach who is in Japan with the Indian contingent, early last year played a big part in his progress. So did, to an extent, Abhay’s gamble to forgo winning Challenger events as the top dog and instead compete against the big fishes in elite PSA events.
He lost several matches in the process but gained experience competing with the top 10-20 players, keeping the bigger picture of 2028 in mind. The Indian also delivered a few upset results, including over Karim Gawad (then world No.5) and Gregoire Marche (world No.20).
Yow wasn’t one of them on the day. Yet, going from not even making the Asian Games singles draw in 2023 to taking the silver in 2026 is a notable milestone in Abhay’s progress.
