Pakistan’s top squash players Mohammad Ashab Irfan and Noor Zaman had to settle for bronze medals when they lost their men’s singles semi-finals of the 20^th Asian Games on Saturday.

Irfan, World No49, lost to World No 26 India’s Abhay Singh 3-0 while World No 29 Noor Zaman suffered 3-0 defeat at the hands of World No 18 Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng in the men’s singles semi-finals.

Singh produced a composed performance to beat Irfan 11-3, 12-10, 11-6 in 35 minutes at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, securing his place in the gold medal match while ending Irfan’s hopes of a place in the final.

For Irfan, the defeat brought an end to a strong singles campaign but still earned him a place on the podium.

The Pakistani struggled to impose his game in the opening game as Singh quickly established control. Irfan found greater resistance in the second, pushing his Indian opponent into a tight contest before Singh edged it 12-10.

The third game again went Singh’s way, with the Indian maintaining his composure to complete a 3-0 victory.

Irfan on Friday had defeated India’s Veer Chotrani 3-1 to advance to the semi-finals.

Meanwhile Noor Zaman also had to settle for a bronze medal after Malaysia’s Eain Yow ended his run in the semi-finals with a straight games victory.

Eain Yow defeated Noor 11-7, 11-2, 11-4 in 26 minutes. Noor made a competitive start in the opening game, scoring seven points, but Eain Yow gradually took control of the rallies and closed out the game 11-7.

The Malaysian then stepped up the pressure. Zaman struggled to find a response in the second game, winning only two points as Eain Yow moved within one game of the final.

The third followed a similar pattern. Eain Yow maintained his momentum to win 11-4 and complete a 3-0 victory.

Noor had defeated Hong Kong’s Leung Chi Hin Henry 3-1 in the quarter-finals.