Asian Games: India survive Jordan scare in Saurav Ghosal's absence

Incheon: India, sans singles silver medallist Saurav Ghosal, scraped through Jordan 2-1 in their opening Pool B match of the Asian Games squash competition here today.

Kush Kumar and the experienced Harinder Pal Sandhu won their singles matches to take India home in the absence of Ghosal, who sat out of the match after losing an 87-minute long final earlier today. Mahesh Mangaonkar went down in the second singles.

Kumar, who became the first Indian to make World Junior Championships semifinals last month, beat Albraikat Saif Yousef Irsheid 11-6 11-7 11-9 to give his team a 1-0 advantage in the contest.

Another young Indian Managonkar gave Alsaraj Ahmad Khaleel Ahmad a tough fight before going down 9-11 9-11 12-10 11-8 to take the game to tie to the decider.

The onus was now on the senior pro Sandhu to bail India out of trouble and he did not disappoint as he won 11-8 11-7 8-11 11-5 against Alsarraj Mohammad Khalil Ahmad to seal the tie 2-1.

Indian men play China tomorrow, while the women's team comprising Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa open against Hong Kong before taking on arch-rivals Pakistan later in the day.

Top two teams from each pool qualify for the semifinals. India had won a bronze each in the men's and women's categories in the 2010 Guangzhou Games.