Asian Squash C'ships: Velavan Senthilkumar settles for bronze medal

Velavan Senthilkumar's positive run ended in the semi-final stage of the 2025 Asian Individual Squash Championships, settling for the bronze medal in Kuching, Malaysia, on Friday.

The reigning silver medalist failed to improve on his medal colour and lost a close match in four games (9-11, 11-13, 11-5, 6-11) against higher-seeded Lau Tsz Kwan of Hong Kong in a marathon 65-minute match.

The semi-final match had a very close start with both players keeping each other in reach and handling their strokes efficiently. But at 9-9, Velavan lost his composure and lost two points on the trot to drop the first game.

He bounced back well in the second game and had a slight lead in the end, but a brilliant low shot from Lau on the game point shifted the momentum, and he doubled his lead by winning the second game.

Velavan did make another comeback and pull back one game in the match, but it wasn't enough for him as Lau came out all guns blazing in the fourth game and clinched the match before the decider.

This also ended the Individual competition for India in Malaysia, but their journey is not over yet, as the doubles championship will kickstart at the same stadium in a couple of days, featuring top Indian players like Anahat and Abhay Singh.