PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's bid for a mixed doubles squash gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games came to a disappointing end after second seeds C. Ameeshenraj-Rachel Arnold fell in the semi-finals on Saturday (Sept 26).
The duo settled for bronze after Ameeshenraj-Rachel found it difficult to match Hong Kong’s Toby Tse-Lai Cheuk Nam before losing 10-11, 7-11 in 19 minutes at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena.
The result left Ameeshenraj-Rachel with the bronze medal, which they shared with India’s Joshana Chinappa-Velavan Senthilkumar.
The Indian pair lost 10-11, 11-2, 10-11 to another Hong Kong pair, Lee Ka Yi-Tang Ming Hong, in the other semi-final.
Rachel admitted they were far from their best, especially after letting the opening game slip away.
“I think we didn’t really play our best. The first set was a bit unlucky.
“Definitely, there are areas we can work on. But I’m disappointed with today’s performance,” said Rachel.
Malaysia’s hopes of gold had already suffered a setback on Friday when top seeds and Hangzhou 2022 silver medallists Syafiq Kamal-Aifa Azman were stunned by Ka Yi-Ming Hong in the quarter-finals.
