Mahesh loses in quarters of NZ Southern Open squash

India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar went down fighting to the top seed Ivan Yuen of Malaysia in the quarterfinal of the ILY-Community Trust NZ Southern Open squash tournament on Friday.

In March earlier this year, Mahesh had beaten Ivan in a five-game thriller in the Wimbledon Club Open in England in a match that lasted 107 minutes.

India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar went down fighting to the top seed Ivan Yuen of Malaysia in the quarterfinal of the ILY-Community Trust NZ Southern Open squash tournament on Friday.

The Malaysian, ranked over 35 rungs above the sixth seeded Indian, pocketed the contest 14-12, 11-6, 6-11, 9-11, 11-9.

In March earlier this year, Mahesh had beaten Ivan in a five-game thriller in the Wimbledon Club Open in England in a match that lasted 107 minutes. The essence of the contest was similar this time but a few crucial points eluded the Indian and Ivan ran away with the match.

In the first round, Mahesh had defeated qualifier Chris Van der Salm of New Zealand 11-7, 11-2, 11-6.