Mumbai, Dec. 15 -- Joshna Chinappa has been a professional squash player for over two decades. Rarely did she experience the kind of buzz she felt playing a match on Sunday in a commercial mall in Chennai. "It was the most crowd I've ever played in front of, honestly," she said. In front of that large home crowd, the Indian team captured the squash World Cup gold for the first time, defeating top seeds Hong Kong 3-0 in the final held at the Express Avenue Mall. The four-member team of former women's top 10 Joshna, current world No.28 Anahat Singh, men's No.29 Abhay Singh and No.45 Velavan Senthilkumar went where no Indian unit had gone in the mixed team tournament's previous four editions. India went better than their bronze in 2023 and are the first Asian team to win the title previously held by Egypt (twice), England and Australia. "It (winning the gold) was something the four of us prior to the tournament really believed that we could do," Joshna said over phone from Chennai. "All of us were coming in with good form in our recent tournaments. So, there was this belief that we could pull it off." The 39-year-old Joshna, now ranked 79th, led the way in the final, beating world No.37 Ka Yi Lee 3-1 (7-3, 2-7 ,7-5, 7-1). Abhay, who's had a good season on the PSA tour, brushed aside Alex Lau 3-0 (7-1, 7-4, 7-4) before teenager Anahat signed off with a 3-0 (7-2, 7-2, 7-5) win over Tomato Ho. India were clinical throughout the event featuring 12 teams with a shorter, faster format. They beat squash powerhouse Egypt, albeit without their top players, in the semi-final. Although in a different format, winning a major title in a sport that will debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics could be a shot in the arm for these players - especially the likes of Anahat, 17, and Abhay, 27 - and Indian squash overall....