Top seed Mahesh Mangoakar of Mumbai had a fight on his hands before he lived up to his billing as India no 3 by defeating his compatriot Abhishek Pradhan 11-8, 12-10, 12-10 in the final 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 Friday.
From Left to Right: Mr. RN Renjen, CEO, Bombay Gymkhana; Mahesh Mangaonkar, Winner- Men’s Category and Mr. Sumeet Revari, tournament Director at prize distribution ceremony of the 43rd Maharashtra State Men’s Squash tournament.
Abhishek, who came into the finals with some hard-fought victories on his way to the finals took some time to settle down land Mahesh did not waste time before taking the game away from Abhishek, wining 11-8.
The second game was much more competitive with fortunes swinging back and forth, leading upto 10-10 but Mahesh stepped up and managed to score those crucial 2 points to win the game 12-10 and take a 2-0 lead in the best of 5 match title clash.
Abhishek’s failure to convert crucial points led him to a similar fate in the third game which he again lost 10-12. While Abhishek was able to stretch the India number 3 in the 2nd and 3rd set, Mangaonkar ensured that he did not drop a game in the tournament
When asked about his performance in the finals, Mahesh said, “Bombay Gym has been a lucky place for me as I have given some of my best performances here. I had a very good final with my close friend so it was fun and it was nice to have my family come and support me which helped me to step up my performance in the tie-breakers.
Mahesh Mangaonkar walked away with 1,30,000 while Abhishek was awarded 75,000 for his efforts.