Indian squash ace Mahesh Mangaonkar continues his good run of form as he entered the quarter-finals of the PSA $10,000 North of Scotland Open in Aberdeen on Thursday. The third seed had to battle hard for a thrilling 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 10-12, 12-10 victory over local hope Dougie Kempsell. The match lasted 95 minutes.
The first game featured a lot of rallies and it was Kempsell who looked more confident of the two. With constant variations in height and pace, he snatched the opening game 11-8.
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However, the Scot got a bit passive in the second game and opened a door of opportunities for Mangaonkar. The Indian then grabbed the second as well as the third games 11-6 and 11-8 respectively.
The fourth game too looked to be heading Mahesh’s way as he went up 9-7. The 116th ranked Scot refused to be intimidated by the situation and dug into his reserves to pull off a great comeback and sealed the fourth game 12-10.
The deciding fifth game was a hard-fought one and there was little to separate the two players. It was only a couple of errors from Kempsell that made the difference and helped the contest to swing in favour of the 58th ranked Indian.
The 22-year-old Mangaonkar is now on a six-match winning streak after having won the Sekisui Open in March.
He will next face the seventh seed Chris Fuller of England for a place in the semi-finals.
