Ghosal leads India to second straight victory

Spearheaded by their number one player and individual bronze medalist Sourav Ghosal, India blanked Japan 3-0 to notch their second straight preliminary league victory in Asian Games men's team squash competition in Guangzhou on Monday.

India, who had trounced minnows Qatar by an identical score yesterday in their opening tie, faced little opposition from Japan but expect to face a tough encounter against Malaysia tomorrow in their concluding league tie after taking on Saudi Arabia in their third match later today in Pool B.

Ghosal started the rout of Japan when he drubbed Yuta Fuki 3-0 (11-6, 11-2, 11-6) in 22 minutes.

Sidharth Suchde, who also played in the individual events but did not win a medal, had to put his best foot forward to overcome Tsukue Shinnosuke 11-5, 12-10, 11-6 in 45 minutes that gave India a 2-0 lead.

The victory was sealed by Harinder Pal Sandhu who got the better of Shimizu Takanori in 33 minutes, the score reading 11-9, 11-7, 12-10 in the Indian's favour.

India and Malaysia led the pool by winning both their rubbers with identical 3-0 margins.

In Pool A, Pakistan and Kuwait, participating under the International Olympic Committee's banner, have won their first two ties to be joint leaders.