It will be an all Mumbai affair as the top seed Mahesh Mangoankar will take on second seed Abhishek Pradhan in the title clash of the 43rd Maharashtra State Men’s Squash tournament, organised under the aegis of SRFI and SRAM and sponsored by JSW and Raheja Vivarea at the Bombay Gymkhana glass-back squash courts on Thursday.
Abhishek Pradhan in action against Gaurav Nandrajog in the semi final round of the 43rd Maharashtra State Men’s Squash tournament
In the semi-final round, Mahesh was up against Yash Fadte who was in top form and was expected to cause some trouble to the India No 3, but Mahesh brought his best game against Yash who could not match the speed and skills of the top seed, who prevailed 11-2, 11-7, 11-3.
In another match, second seed Abhishek Pradhan had to work hard for his victory over 4th seed Gaurav Nandarjog, of Delhi who is also a senior player. It was a close first game with both the players notching points in quick intervals but Abhishek regained control of the game winning the tiebreaker 16-14. Abhishek could not maintain the momentum and lost the second set 9-11 making the scores level. Later Abhishek did not waste any time and quickly finished off his opponent with a 16-14, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5 scoreline to reach the finals.
When asked about his final encounter with his fellow Mumbaikar Abhishek said, “It is always fun playing with Mahesh. While we have played a lot against each other as juniors the last time I played him in a final was 8 years ago. I look forward to playing against him and with his current form he is going to be a very tough competitor and it will be an exciting finish to this tournament.”
Men’s Semi-Final Results:
Mahesh Mangaonkar [1] bt Yash Fadte (Goa) 11-2 11-7 11-2; Abhishek Pradhan [2] bt Gaurav Nandrajog [4] (Delhi) 16-14 9-11 11-3 11-5