Mahesh Mangaonkar outlasts Zahed Mohamed to lift PSA Squash circuit title

Mumbai: India's Mahesh Mangaonkar toppled top seed Zahed Mohamed of Egypt in straight games to clinch the title in the USD 10,000 JSW PSA Squash Circuit 2 which concluded at the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana here on Sunday.

Mumbai-born Mangaonkar, seeded 2nd and world ranked 56, showed tremendous retrieving power and stamina to notch a hard-fought 14-12, 15-13, 11-4 win in the 52-minute final against an opponent from Alexandria who is ranked 45th.

This was their first-ever meeting in the PSA circuit and the title win was Mangaonkar's fourth in PSA circuit and second this year.

Mangaonkar saved one game point in the opener after squandering the first and won on his third game point. The game lasted 20 minutes.

In the second, the Indian was hopelessly down 4-9 before clawing his way back to 8-9, but then lost the next point to be down a game point which he saved.

He then held the first of five game points at 11-10 which the Egyptian saved, held three more to fritter them all away before finally taking a commanding 2-0 lead on the fifth game point, the game lasting 15 minutes.

The exertion took a toll on the Egyptian and he ran out of steam in the third game which Mangaonkar won easily. The 20-year-old Indian titlist, however, will not play in the third leg of the tournament, to be held at the NSCI courts here from the 16th.

In his absence and in the absence of 22-year-old Zahed Mohamed, India's Harinder Pal Sandhu has been given the no. 1 seeding.

Earlier, in the final of the WSA Tour 5 event being held concurrently, Nouran El Torky (Egypt) beat Chloe Mesic (France) 11-3, 11-5, 11-6 in 35 minutes. This is the Egyptian woman's third title out of four finals. She had won the crown in the opening leg at Jaipur.