Mahesh Mangaonkar has been playing rock solid so far in the PSA Challenger Tour squash tournament. Be it his touch play or the powerful strokes unleashed with a lot of variety from the backcourt, the 27-year-old top seed has been one-up against all the opponents.
Against an improving Abhay Singh, Mahesh never let his guard down as he tamed the 22-year-old fellow Indian 12-10, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9 to reach the final on Thursday. The top seed will meet a tough challenger in Todd Harrity of the USA, who dismantled Egypt's Karim El Hammamy 11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 11-1.
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Mahesh will be the lone Indian player in the finals as Tanvi Khanna was outplayed by Hana Moataz of Egypt 11-6, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5 in 32 minutes in the second women’s semifinals. Tanvi showed signs of a comeback when she won the third game, but Hana proved to be way too powerful and crafty for the Indian, closing out the fourth in a jiffy.
Earlier, in the all-Egyptian semifinal, the left-handed and unseeded Malak Kamal defeated Rana Ismail, seeded seventh 11-13, 11-6, 11-2, 12-10. Malak will now take on Hana in the final.
Harrity toyed with Karim for most part of the match in the men's semifinal. The American’s placements backed by fluid moments and unrelenting retrieval hardly gave a chance for the Egyptian to mount a comeback.
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