Wednesday turned out to be a disappointing day for Indian squash players as Mahesh Mangaonkar and Vikram Malhotra both bowed out of their respective tournaments. The 58th ranked Mangaonkar, who had a nail-biting five-game win in the final round of qualifying on Tuesday, was involved in another such marathon match in the first round of the main draw at the $25, 000 IG Open de Paris 2016.
The Sekisui Open winner even led the eighth seed Declan James by two games but the Englishman made a strong comeback to take the 9-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-3 win in 80 minutes.
Malhotra out of Houston Open
Meanwhile at the $50,000 Men’s Houston Open 2016 in Texas, USA, the 92nd ranked Vikram Malhotra could not back up his scintillating run a day after upsetting the top seed Alfredo Avila in the first round of qualifying. The Hartford-based Mumbai player succumbed to a 3-11, 6-11, 7-11 defeat to World No. 80 Reiko Peter of Switzerland.
Malhotra had been in impressive form coming into this tournament, having captured three PSA titles in the last five months.
