"I'm literally speechless! Over the moon with my win today over Saurav and winning my first ever gold ...", Al Muzayen tweeted afterwards. While Malaysia’s Nicol David celebrated her 4th Squash gold medal in the 17th Asian Games in the Republic of Korea, it was a historic 1st gold for Kuwait when underdog Abdullah Al Muzayen (together with Kuwait coach Nasser Zahran) recovered from 0/2 down to beat top seed Saurav Ghosal in the men’s final in Incheon.
Nicol David, who has topped the women’s world rankings unopposed since August 2006, won her first Asian Games gold medal in Thailand in 1998 – aged just 15 – then triumphed again in 2006 in Qatar and 2010 in China.
Al Muzayen was making only his second appearance in the Asian Games after reaching the quarter-finals in 2010.
Men’s draw:
Final:
[5/8] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) bt [1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 10-12, 2-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-9 (87m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [3/4] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 (45m)
[5/8] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) bt [2] Max Lee (HKG) 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6, 11-8 (75m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [5/8] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) 11-6, 9-11, 11-2, 11-9 (58m)
[3/4] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [5/8] Leo Au (HKG) 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7 (68m)
[5/8] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) bt [3/4] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6 (65m)
[2] Max Lee (HKG) bt [5/8] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 8-11, 11-2 (55m)
2nd round:
[1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [9/16] Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR) 11-2, 11-4, 11-3 (34m)
[5/8] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt [9/16] Sehyun Lee (KOR) 6-11, 11-1, 11-4, 11-6 (36m)
[5/8] Leo Au (HKG) bt [9/16] Shinnosuke Tsukue (JPN) 11-8, 14-16, 11-4, 11-8 (49m)
[3/4] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [9/16] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) 11-9, 11-6, 11-3 (35m)
[3/4] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt Junjie Wang (CHN) 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 (28m)
[5/8] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) bt [9/16] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) 11-4, 11-6, 11-2 (27m)
[5/8] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt [9/16] Ammar Altamimi (KUW) 11-9, 5-11, 12-14, 12-10, 11-7 (64m)
[2] Max Lee (HKG) bt Seung-Jun Lee (KOR) 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5 (46m)
Women’s draw:
Final:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [2] Low Wee Wern (MAS) 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 12-10 (60m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [3/4] Dipika Pallikal (IND) 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (25m)
[2] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt [3/4] Annie Au (HKG) 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 (39m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [5/8] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 (31m)
[3/4] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [5/8] Joshana Chinappa (IND) 7-11, 11-9, 11-8, 15-17, 11-9 (87m)
[3/4] Annie Au (HKG) bt [5/8] Maria Toorpakai Wazir (PAK) 11-3, 11-4, 11-4 (18m)
[2] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt [5/8] Joey Chan (HKG) 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5 (53m)
1st round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bye
[5/8] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) bt Muqaddas Ashraf (PAK) 11-2, 11-5, 11-4 (20m)
[5/8] Joshana Chinappa (IND) bt Song Sun-Mi (KOR) 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (30m)
[3/4] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt Gu Jinyue (CHN) 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4 (39m)
[3/4] Annie Au (HKG) bt Chinatsu Matsui (JPN) 11-2, 11-3, 10-12, 11-6 (30m)
[5/8] Maria Toorpakai Wazir (PAK) bt Li Dongjin (CHN) 9-11, 13-11, 11-1, 11-2 (34m)
[5/8] Joey Chan (HKG) bt Liu Kwai Chi (MAC) 11-2, 11-5, 11-1 (13m)
[2] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt Park Eun Ok (KOR) 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (36m)
