Mahesh crashes out in Auckland squash tourney

Mahesh lost 13-11, 11-9, 4-11, 6-11, 11-9 to Daniel Mekbib of Czech Republic in the quarterfinal of the Squash XL Open, in Auckland on Friday.

Mahesh found his way in by equalising the score 2-2 but eventually went down fighting.

India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar went down to Daniel Mekbib of Czech Republic in five games in the quarterfinal of the Squash XL Open, a PSA World Tour event, in Auckland on Friday.

Mekbib shot down the aspirations of sixth-seeded Indian with a hard-fought 13-11, 11-9, 4-11, 6-11, 11-9 win, a release said.

The unseeded Czech, ranked way down in the 150s in the world, had ousted the second-seeded Ivan Yuen of Malaysia in the first round and appeared to run away with the match against Mahesh too.

However, the Indian found his way in by equalising the score 2-2 in a match replete with hard hitting drives, there was hope of something more.

But Mekbib got back to his winning ways again in the deciding twister and managed to edge out Mahesh at the business end.