Mumbai : Top seeds Mahesh Mangaonkar and Urwashi Joshi fashioned fluent wins to clinch the men’s and women’s titles, in the 40th Bombay Gymkhana Maharashtra State Open Squash Championship.
India No. 2 Mangaonkar prevailed over fourth seed Ravi Dixit of Chennai 11-8, 11-6, 11-2 in a one-sided championship round that lasted 40 minutes, while Urwashi Joshi of Jindal beat second seed Anna Avasthi 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 in the women’s final.
Dixit, the winner of two Malaysian Open junior titles and the first Indian to become the Asian junior champion, enjoyed a 7-4 lead in the opening game but once Mangaonkar caught up at 7-7, he never looked back in a match he was in complete control of.
“I am playing Ravi after almost two years,” said Mangaonkar, ranked 52 in the world. “He is a quality player and an achiever. I kept the ball in and didn’t try to do too much.”
Earlier, in the semi-finals, Asian Games gold winner Mangaonkar halted Jean-Pierre Brits of Pretoria, South Africa 12-10, 11-1, 11-4 after recovering from a 4-9 deficit in the opening game, in a match that lasted 32 minutes, while Dixit took a little longer to overcome another South African, second seed Christo Potgieter 2-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 in 47 minutes.
