Mahesh Maintains Mumbai Interest In Maharashtra

Unseeded Mahesh Mangaonkar maintained home interest in the new Maharashtra State PSA Open in India when he dismissed Egyptian qualifier Fares Mohamed Dessouki in four games to claim an unexpected place in the semi-finals of the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 squash event at the Bombay Gymkhana in Mumbai.

Fresh from beating the number two seed 24 hours earlier, Dessouki traded point for point in the opening game. "Mahesh was taking the ball early and at 10-all won two sweet points to win the first game 12-10," explained tournament spokesman Raj Arora.

"In the second, Fares came out strong and Mahesh was forced into making a few errors due to the attack of the Egyptian teenager who also showed a magnificent arsenal of shots to keep the crowd at the edges of their seats. Mahesh didn't give in easily and picked up some unbelievable shots on full stretch but Fares attacked better at 8-8 to win 11-9."

With Dessouki beginning to tire in the third, the 19-year-old Mumbai hero regained the lead.

"The fourth game always had one winner and Mahesh was literally the last man standing on the day," continued Arora. "Tough match!"

The 14-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-1 victory after 77 minutes takes world No88 Mangaonkar through to meet another Egyptian, fourth seed Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry.

The world No45 from Cairo, also 19, removed Indian No2 Harinder Pal Sandhu 12-10, 11-9, 11-8.

The other semi-final will be an all-Egyptian affair between unseeded Zahed Mohamed and third seed Mohd Ali Anwar Reda. Mohamed, who upset top seed Ong Beng Hee in the first round, continued his rampage by beating Indian hope Ravi Dixit 11-8, 11-5, 11-5.

French underdog Johan Bouquet made an excellent start against Reda, taking the opening game. But the world No40 from Cairo ultimately proved to be too strong for Bouquet, ranked more than 60 places lower, winning 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-1.

Semi-final line-up:
Zahed Mohamed (EGY) v [3] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY)
Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) v [4] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY)