Mahesh Marches Into Mumbai Quarters
by Howard Harding
9 May 2013 - Indian hopes in the inaugural CCI PSA Squash Challenger 15 in the country's biggest city Mumbai rest solely on the shoulders of Mahesh Mangaonkar after the 19-year-old despatched Jordanian Ahmad Al-Saraj in the opening round of the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 event at the Cricket Club of India.
"I'm happy to win 3-0," said the Mumbai-based teenager, ranked outside the world's top 100, after his 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 victory. "I was very focused today and played with the right game plan. Big for me tomorrow as I will play my first top 30 player Mohamed Ali Reda. I'm very excited to play him in front of my home crowd. Hopefully I will play well and win."
Second seed Mohd Ali Anwar Reda, the world No47 from Cairo, defeated Egyptian qualifier Ahmed Atef 11-3, 13-11, 11-4.
Unseeded Indian Harinder Pal Sandhu took the opening game against Omar Abdel Meguid - but the third-seeded Egyptian soon imposed himself on the match to secure his anticipated win by a 3-11, 11-2, 11-9, 12-10 margin.
"It was a good first match for me," said the 25-year-old from Giza. "Harry played really well in the first game and the crowd were cheering him off so that got me pumped and I started playing well in the next games. Hopefully I'll be playing better tomorrow."
Wildcard Ravi Dixit took Elvinn Keo the full distance, but the higher-ranked Malaysian ultimately won 11-5, 11-13, 11-2, 8-11, 11-7.
"Ravi showed a superb performance," said an event spokesman. "But he could have done better as he was leading 4-1 in the fifth. Unfortunately, Ravi made many unforced errors which gave Elvin an 8-7 lead and from there on Elvin managed to close it 11-8."
RESULTS: PSA CCI Challenger 15, Mumbai, India
1st round:
[1] Alan Clyne (SCO) bt Ammar Altamimi (KUW) 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 12-10
Greg Lobban (SCO) bt [Q] Abhimanu Shah (IND) 11-3, 11-3, 11-6
Elvinn Keo (MAS) bt [WC] Ravi Dixit (IND) 11-5, 11-13, 11-2, 8-11, 11-7
[4] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) bt [Q] Gaurav Nandrajog (IND) 11-4, 11-4, 13-11
[3] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) 3-11, 11-2, 11-9, 12-10
Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt [Q] Adam Murrills (ENG) 11-5, 11-4, 11-9
Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR) 11-3, 11-6, 11-4
[2] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt [Q] Ahmed Atef (EGY) 11-3, 13-11, 11-4
Quarter-final line-up:
[1] Alan Clyne (SCO) v Greg Lobban (SCO)
[4] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) v Elvinn Keo (MAS)
[3] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) v Ivan Yuen (MAS)
[2] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) v Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND)
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