Two Indians in Maharashtra PSA squash quarters

File photo

Mumbai, Sep 5 (IANS) The top two seeds Ong Beng Hee and Omar Abdel Aziz crashed out of the Maharashtra State PSA Open squash tournament after failing to survive epic first round marathons against lower-ranked Egyptians at the Bombay Gymkhana here as India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar and Harinder Pal Sandhu made the quarterfinals of the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 event.

Favourite Ong Beng Hee, the 33-year-old former world No.7 from Malaysia, twice led Zahed Mohamed but the 21-year-old Egyptian held his nerve to close out the match 5-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10 after 98 minutes Wednesday night.

Mohamed, ranked 90 in the world, saved four match balls from 6-10 down in the decider before clinching the day’s biggest upset.

An all-Egyptian encounter at the bottom of the draw saw experienced No.2 seed Omar Abdel Aziz establish a comfortable two-game lead over qualifier Fares Mohamed Dessouki, an 18-year-old from Alexandria. Dessouki made a remarkable fightback to register a 10-12, 2-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-8 win in 97 minutes.

Dessouki now goes on to face Mangaonkar. The 19-year-old from Mumbai – who has just moved out of the junior ranks – had more in the tank compared to his younger rival Kush Kumar who has just arrived after winning gold at the Asian Youth Games in China and the Indian Junior Open in Chennai.

At one game-all, the match promised to get close but the more experienced Mangaonkar capitalised on his opponent’s tired legs to claim an 11-6, 8-11, 11-2, 11-6 victory.

Chennai-based Sandhu ousted Egyptian qualifier Shehab Essam Hosny 11-6, 14-12, 11-3 and will now take on fourth-seeded Egyptian Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry for a place in the last four.

Results:

Zahed Mohamed (EGY) bt [1] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 5-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10 (98m)

Ravi Dixit (IND) bt [Q] Deepak Mishra (IND) 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 (30m)

Johan Bouquet (FRA) bt [Q] Hannan Tarmidi (MAS) 11-3, 11-5, 11-9 (24m)

[3] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt Ahmed Atef (EGY) 12-10, 11-9, 11-5 (36m)

[4] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) bt Joe Chapman (IVB) 12-10, 11-5, 11-3 (32m)

Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt [Q] Shehab Essam Hosny (EGY) 11-6, 14-12, 11-3 (38m)

Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt [WC] Kush Kumar (IND) 11-6, 8-11, 11-2, 11-6 (43m)

[Q] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) bt [2] Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 10-12, 2-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-8 (97m)

Quarter-final line-up:

Zahed Mohamed (EGY) v Ravi Dixit (IND)

[3] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) v Johan Bouquet (FRA)

[4] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) v Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND)

[Q] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) v Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND)