Mangaonkar lost to Omar Abdel Meguid 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-4
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Indian squash ace Mahesh Mangaonkar’s superb run came to an end at the PSA $15, 000 Ganem Vein Institute Cactus Classic 2016 in Phoenix, USA as he went down fighting to the top seed Omar Abdel Meguid in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The fifth seed won the first game but could not prevent the 33rd ranked Egyptian from coming back to win 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-4 in 48 minutes.
Meguid had arrived in Phoenix with great confidence after clinching the PSA M15 Oregon Open title just a week back and was the heavy favourite in this clash. But it was the 67th ranked Mangaonkar who started off with a bang.
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With some aggressive display, he put his higher-ranked opponent on the backfoot as he grabbed the opening game 11-8. Meguid, however, staged a brilliant comeback after that as he upped the pace and intensity of his game.
Keeping the errors in check, he roared back to take the next three games and book his place for Sunday’s final.
The 21-year-old Indian can still be proud of his efforts this week. This was his first PSA tournament since an illness-related hiatus at the end of last year. He won two gruelling matches at the Cactus Classic and even upset the fourth seed Henrik Mustonen in the quarter-finals.
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About the author
Sudeshna Banerjee
Sudeshna is a veteran Indian Sports and International Tennis journalist as well as editor at Sportskeeda. She has an overall experience of over 10 years with top publications like The Bridge, Fox Sports Asia, and gained a keen interest in Indian sports since the 2002 Commonwealth and Asian Games when she was in school.
Sudeshna holds a Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She attends tournaments regularly and being a highly experienced journalist, she ensures she only contacts the correct people from her network for the most authentic information to be put in her articles.
Sudeshna’s favorite Indian athlete is PV Sindhu owing to her big-tournament performances. She also admires Tennis legend Rafael Nadal for his resilience and has witnessed the Spaniard in action at the French Open, due to which, Roland Garros is her all-time favorite Grand Slam tournament.
Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics made a lasting impact on Sudeshna. She has also interviewed him along with Badminton star Chirag Shetty and several other sports personalities. She has done on-ground reporting on multiple ITF tournaments along with the Premier Badminton League, Asian Boxing Championships and the Davis Cup.
When not using her skills and years of experience in crafting compelling content, Sudeshna likes to read, watch movies and travel.
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