Mahesh 3rd PSA title in
Nimes, France: 6 January 2014
India’s sensational teenager Mahesh
Mangaonkar began the New Year with the first title of
the year when he despatched top-seeded Scot Greg Lobban
in the final of the Open du Gard, the PSA Challenger 5
squash event marking its sixth year at Squash des Arenes
in Nimes, France.
Third seed Mangaonkar made his
breakthrough in the semi-finals when he crushed
second-seeded Kuwaiti Ammar Altamimi in just 28 minutes,
Now in the fourth Tour final of his career, the
19-year-old from Mumbai had a point to prove when he
faced Lobban, a 21-year-old from Edinburgh enjoying his
eighth Tour final.
Mangaonkar's success in last
month's Imet Open in Slovakia came after a five-game
final victory over Lobban - the result of which is that
both now players share a World No.82 ranking.
The
win, his third on the PSA Tour, also set up a nine-match
winning streak for the Mumbai teenager - the longest of
his career.
at the Imet Squash Centrum,
Slovakia capital Bratislava.
Mahesh Mangaokar is 1st Indian
IMET open winner in Slovakia: 15 Dec 13
Five-game victories over the event's top two seeds led
to Mahesh Mangaonkar becoming the first Indian winner of
the PSA IMET Open, the PSA World Tour Challenger 5
squash event marking its sixth year at the Imet Squash
Centrum in the Slovakia capital Bratislava.
The
19-year-old World No.98 from Mumbai (India) made his
breakthrough in the semi-finals where he downed two-time
champion Jan Koukal, the top seed from the Czech
Republic expected to make his fourth final appearance in
six years, 13-11, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 13-11 in 98 minutes.
Third seed Mangaonkar then lined up against
defending champion Greg Lobban, the No.2 seed from
Scotland who was celebrating his third successive
appearance in a Tour final. Despite his heroics less
than 24 hours earlier, the Indian teenager was still
able to call upon reserves to recover from losing the
first game to take a 2/1 lead.
Edinburgh-based
Lobban, ranked 82 in the world, dug deep to take the
fourth to force a fifth game decider.
But
Mangaonkar refused to give up, reclaiming the advantage
to close out the match 7-11, 11-8, 11-4, 6-11, 11-7
after 77 minutes to take the title.
"The turning
point of this final was in the second set, where I
started to move properly on the court," said the
jubilant Mahesh after the second Tour title triumph of
his career.
"I was happy to win the third, rested
a bit in fourth and fought back in fifth. Squash is also
a mental game and I gave it all I had in the final set."
