Mahesh Mangaonkar enters Paris main draw; big win for Vikram Malhotra
Tuesday turned out to be a good day for Indian squash players as Mahesh Mangaonkar and Vikram Malhotra both won their respective matches in two different tournaments. The 58th ranked Mangaonkar, who chose to opt out of the Asian Team Championships to focus on the PSA Tour events, is playing at the $25, 000 IG Open de Paris 2016.
The 22-year-old, who had got a bye in the first round of qualifying, had to work extra hard for his 6-11, 11-9, 11-3, 10-12, 12-10 win over Kuwait’s Abdullah Al Muzayen in the final round of qualifying. The contest lasted a marathon 79 minutes.
The Sekisui Open winner will now meet the eighth seed Declan James in the first round of the main draw on Wednesday.
Malhotra upsets World No. 40 in Houston
Meanwhile, the Hartford-based Mumbai player Vikram Malhotra simply continues to soar higher and higher. After winning his third PSA title in five months, the current World No. 92 rode on his burgeoning confidence to topple the top seed and World No. 40 Alfredo Avila 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 in the first round of qualifying at the $50,000 Men’s Houston Open 2016 in Texas, USA. The match lasted just 35 minutes.
On Wednesday, he will take on the 80th ranked Reiko Peter of Switzerland for a place in the main draw.