How Abhay Singh went from nearly quitting squash to an Asian Games gold

While already popular in the squash world, Abhay Singh's historic win over Pakistan's Noor Zaman in the squash men's team finals propelled him to country-wide fame.

Going into the match, India were slightly disadvantaged as Pakistan beat them in the group stages earlier. However, when it came down to the last and decisive match, Abhay Singh held his nerve to guide India to gold.

While the Indian team was looking to keep the finals cordial, a member of the Pakistani team posted a video earlier on social media after the group stages claiming to defeat their neighbors. This rubbed Singh the wrong way, and the dig was in his mind as he took to court for his match against Zaman.

“Before that video, we wanted the clash to be cordial. But after seeing that, it became a bit more personal. Me being the young, hot-headed one, I took it differently to the other three. They were like let it go. I was like, ‘Inko hum dikhayenge.’ I took it personally. Maybe it was a lack of maturity in these situations," he told The Indian Express.

Whatever it was, the remark certainly seemed to work out in India's favor. After an emotionally charged match, Abhay Singh celebrated his win and India's subsequent gold by launching his racket into the crowd.

"I lost myself (in that moment) which is why I chucked my racquet into the crowd. I didn’t know what was happening. I was really feeling a lot of emotion. Even after everything had settled there was too much going on. So many emotions."

"It’s the first time I have thrown my racquet into the crowd. It went flying. There is a video on Twitter which I watch over and over. It’s funny how different people react to that moment."

While Abhay Singh was busy reveling in his win, his mom, a heart patient, was asleep at home to avoid the anxiety that comes with watching her son play.

"My mum is a heart patient so she can’t watch me play. She can’t deal with the nerves. Usually what happens when I play is that my dad is watching on TV. And he gets pretty excited and starts shouting. And my mum will be in another room where she can figure out what’s happening in the match thanks to my dad who is quite vocal."

"During the Pakistan game, my dad was at work and my mom was home. Their phones started blowing up with messages after the result. That’s when they found out I had won."

Abhay Singh's challenging journey to his Asian Games medals

For Abhay Singh, the journey to his Asian Games gold and bronze was one filled with many challenges, both physical and mental. In terms of fitness, Singh was required to be at his absolute best in Hangzhou, playing thirteen high-intensity matches in ten days.

"I have put in a lot of work in the summer, to be in the shape and conditioning that it is in now. On the day I won that game to seal India’s gold, I was with the physio till 1:30 am in the morning. My body was busted. I had two very tough matches. The next morning I had to start mixed doubles. I had two matches the next day."

Not only this but just a few months before the Asian Games, Abhay was considering quitting his sport to pursue new avenues.

"Pre-COVID, I was playing the best squash of my life. But during the pandemic, as an athlete I wasn’t able to compete. It was a weird situation. Post-COVID, getting back to sport was not that easy. I struggled with a few results."

"It just got to a point where I was like if I have given so much to the sport, the least the sport could do was make me happy. And it didn’t. Maybe at that point, if I had walked away it would not have been forever. Maybe at some point I would have tried to come back."

As he ruminated between continuing with squash or opting to become an assistant coach and pursuing an undergraduate degree in the UK, Singh received an email from the squash federation informing him of the trials for the Commonwealth Games.

This proved to be the turning point for Abhay Singh, as he stuck to his sport and scaled the Asian Games summit just a few months later.