The Cactus Classic is his first PSA tournament of 2016
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While the country’s biggest squash stars keep swelling India’s medal tally at the 2016 South Asian Games in Guwahati, the 67th ranked Mahesh Mangaonkar is quietly making his mark at the PSA $15, 000 Ganem Vein Institute Cactus Classic 2016 in Phoenix, USA. On Wednesday, the fifth seed edged past 20-year-old Egyptian Karim El Hammamy 13-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7 to book his place in the quarter-finals.
Mangaonkar, who has returned to the Tour after a health issue at the end of 2015, has played just one match so far this year. At the 6th round of the 2016 Premier League held in England in January, the 21-year-old lost a tight encounter to the 34th ranked Malaysian Nafiizwan Adnan in four games.
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Pulled off the win in 79 minutes
The Cactus Classic is his first PSA tournament of 2016 and he showed a glimpse of his fighting spirit as he pulled off the win in 79 minutes. It was a tense and heated match where the referee was forced to make 34 decisions but Mangaonkar managed to hold his nerves well for the win.
He next faces the fourth seed Henrik Mustonen of Finland for a place in the semi-finals. The match is scheduled on Friday.
The World No. 57 Finn took 43 minutes to beat South African qualifier Clinton Leeuw 11-4, 13-11, 7-11, 11-6 in his first round on Wednesday.
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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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