Indian ace beats reigning champion in Swiss final
By SEAN REUTHE
Indian World No.65 Mahesh Mangaonkar lifted his first PSA World Tour title since 2014 after coming through a dramatic five-game affair against defending champion and number three seed Kristian Frost Olesen in the final of the Sekisui Open, PSA M15 tournament in Criens, Switzerland.
Mangaonkar, who hails from Mumbai, was superb throughout the event and dropped just one game, against German second seed Raphael Kandra, on his way to the showpiece finale.
Frost, who defeated Tom Ford in last year’s final, was also in strong form from the outset of the tournament and had to come through a tense battle against top seed Greg Lobban in the semi-final.
Mangaonkar prevailed in a long and hard-fought opening game which he took on the tie-break after a succession of gruelling rallies.
The next three games saw the unrelenting action continue unabated with intense, fast pace shots being hit with skill and power by both competitors. The lead changed hands multiple times with Frost taking two of the three games by the narrowest of margins to set up a deciding fifth game.
Mangaonkar had already relinquished his lead on two occasions but a determined display in the final game saw him edge ahead to close out a 12-10, 7-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-8 victory, claiming his fifth PSA World Tour title in the process.
“Finally, I’ve won a PSA title after a year of brutal losing,” Mangaonkar said on social media.
“I’m happy with the result and the performance but the work is still in progress.”
PSA M15 Sekisui Open 2016, Sportpark Pilatus, Kriens, Switzerland.
Final:
[5] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt [3] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) 12-10, 7-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-8
Semi-finals:
[3] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) bt [1] Greg Lobban (SCO) 7-11, 12-10, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8
[5] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt Geoffrey Demont (FRA) 11-6, 11-9, 11-5
Quarter-finals:
[1] Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Edmon Lopez Moller (ESP) 11-6, 11-7, 11-5
[3] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) bt [Q] Tristan Eysele (RSA) 11-6, 11-6, 11-7
Geoffrey Demont (FRA) bt Joshua Larkin (AUS) 11-7, 11-5, 11-9
[5] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt [2] Raphael Kandra (GER) 11-7, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6
2nd round:
[1] Greg Lobban (SCO) bt [Q] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) 11-7, 11-2, 11-6
Edmon Lopez Moller (ESP) bt [8] Evan Williams (NZL) 11-8, 12-10, 11-7
[Q] Tristan Eysele (RSA) bt [6] Reiko Peter (SUI) 6-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10
[3] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) bt [Q] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 11-8, 11-9, 5-11, 13-11
Geoffrey Demont (FRA) bt [4] Ivan Yuen (MAS) 9-11, 11-7, 15-13, 11-9
Joshua Larkin (AUS) bt Tang Ming Hong (HKG) 11-4, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7 (50m)
[5] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt Bernat Jaume (ESP) 11-4, 11-7, 11-6
[2] Raphael Kandra (GER) bt Mark Fuller (ENG) 11-8, 13-11, 11-3
1st round:
[1] Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Chi Him Wong (HKG) 11-5, 11-8, 11-5
[Q] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt Joe Green (ENG) 11-4, 11-1, 6-0 ret.
Edmon Lopez Moller (ESP) bt [Q] Ondrej Uherka (CZE) 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-5
[8] Evan Williams (NZL) bt [WC] Patrick Miescher (SUI) 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 10-12, 11-9
[6] Reiko Peter (SUI) bt Rui Soares (POR) 11-3, 11-3, 7-11, 11-7
[Q] Tristan Eysele (RSA) bt [LL] Christoph Zust (SUI) 12-10, 11-3, 11-4
[Q] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt Benjamin Fischer (SUI) 8-11, 10-12, 11-4, 15-13, 11-8
[3] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) bt Jonas Daehler (SUI) 14-12, 11-7, 11-6
[4] Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR) 11-5, 11-8, 11-2
Geoffrey Demont (FRA) bt [Q] Julian Tomlinson (ENG) 11-5, 11-2, 11-5
Tang Ming Hong (HKG) bt [Q] Roee Avraham (ISR) 11-6, 11-6, 13-11
Joshua Larkin (AUS) bt [7] Piedro Schweertman (NED) 11-8, 11-9, 11-5
[5] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 12-10, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7
Bernat Jaume (ESP) bt [Q] Manuel Wanner (SUI) 11-5, 11-3, 9-11, 7-11, 11-7
Mark Fuller (ENG) bt [Q] Martin Svec (CZE) 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 14-12, 11-9
[2] Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [LL] Remo Handl (SUI) 11-9, 11-9, 11-5
Qualifying finals:
Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt Andres Duany (PER) 11-9, 11-3, 11-8
Julian Tomlinson (ENG) bt Ben Coates (ENG) 6-11, 11-5, 11-4, 12-10
Tristan Eysele (RSA) bt Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) 11-7, 11-8, 11-1
Martin Svec (CZE) bt Victor Crouin (FRA) 11-7, 9-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9
Manuel Wanner (SUI) bt Christoph Zust (SUI) 12-10, 11-5, 11-6
Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt Enzo Corigliano (FRA) 11-1, 11-1, 11-3
Ondrej Uherka (CZE) bt Lukas Burkhart (SUI) 11-6, 16-18, 11-1, 11-4
Roee Avraham (ISR) bt Remo Handl (SUI) 11-5, 12-14, 11-6, 11-3
1st qualifying round:
Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt Amadeo Costa (SUI) 11-9, 11-3, 11-8 (23m)
Andres Duany (PER) bt Elliot Selby (ENG) 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 (27m)
Ben Coates (ENG) bt Fabio Fuchs (SUI) 11-2, 11-8, 11-5 (19m)
Julian Tomlinson (ENG) bt Nils Roesch (SUI) 11-5, 11-3, 11-4 (23m)
Tristan Eysele (RSA) bt Jan Kurzmeyer (SUI) 11-13, 11-8, 11-4, 11-9 (51m)
Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) bt Luca Wilhelmi (SUI) 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-4 (39m)
Victor Crouin (FRA) bt Miles Jenkins (ENG) 11-4, 11-5, 10-12, 11-8 (42m)
Martin Svec (CZE) bt Roman Allinckx (SUI) 11-6, 12-10, 14-12 (39m)
Manuel Wanner (SUI) bt Aitor Zunzunegui (ESP) 12-10, 11-3, 11-6 (35m)
Christoph Zust (SUI) bt Xavi Blasco (ESP) 9-11, 11-1, 6-11, 11-4, 11-2 (53m)
Enzo Corigliano (FRA) bt Cedric Kuchen (SUI) 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5
Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt Brian Byrne (IRL) 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 (41m)
Ondrej Uherka (CZE) bt Marc ter Sluis (NED) 7-11, 5-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-5
Lukas Burkhart (SUI) bt Richard Williams (ENG) 11-8, 3-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-9
Roee Avraham (ISR) bt Sergey Grigoryan (ARM) 11-1, 11-0 ret.
Remo Handl (SUI) bt Alex Imhof (SUI) 11-2, 11-7, 11-6
Picture from Squash Mad archive