Hangzhou: India’s Dipika Pallikal and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu won the squash mixed doubles gold at the Asian Games after warding off a last minute challenge from their Malaysian opponents in the final here Thursday.
The Indians eked out a 11-10 11-10 win over Aifa Binti Azman and Mohammad Syafiq Bin Mohd Kamal in 35 minutes.
Cruising to an easy win at one point, the Indians seemingly lost concentration, giving away easy points in the second game.
The Malaysian duo won seven consecutive points to rise from 3-9 to 10-9 before Harinder and Dipika raised their level to close out the match.
In likely her last hurrah at the continental showpiece, Dipika won two medals — a bronze in the women’s team event besides the mixed doubles gold.
The 32-year-old thus has a haul of six medals, including one gold and one silver and four bronze medals across four editions of the Asian Games.
