Home Hero Sandhu Celebrates First Indian Circuit Success by Nathan Clarke October 7, 2014 -
Harinder Pal Sandhu provided surprise home success in the inaugural JSW
PSA Indian Circuit 1 when he upset top seed Mahesh Mangaonkar in the
all-Indian final of the PSA Challenger 10 squash event at the Jaipur
Club in Jaipur. It was just a week
after the pair led India to an historic Asian Games team gold medal in
South Korea that Sandhu and Mangaonkar returned to individual pursuits
on the PSA World Tour in Jaipur – both dismissing English opponents in
the semi-finals to set up the dream climax. For both players, the
success led them to their seventh PSA World Tour finals – 20-year-old
Mangaonkar marking his fourth of the year, and third seed Sandhu, 25,
from Chennai, looking to end a five-year title drought. "The pair faced off in
front of a packed house," reported Circuit Director Liesl
Goecker. "While Mangaonkar had the length, Sandhu returned
brilliant shot after brilliant shot, stumping Mangaonkar in a quick
three-game match." World No.56 Mangaonkar briefly led in the third game. "But Sandhu knew the
title was his," continued Goecker. "After some superb squash and
lightning retrievals, a hard boast from Sandhu brought the game to 8-2,
his lead. At 10-6, Sandhu served for the match and became the
champion of the first JSW Challenger tournament in Jaipur!" Sandhu (pictured
below, left, with Mangaonkar) , ranked 31 places lower than his Indian
team-mate, was delighted with his 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 title triumph after
65 minutes: "It feels great. It's exactly one year since I
lost to Mahesh on this same court at the senior nationals. "This court is a very
hot spot. I knew I would need to keep my basic game tight, don't
be headstrong, just hang in there and give it all up." The win marks the third PSA World Tour title of Sandhu's career. RESULTS: PSA Challenger 10 JSW PSA Indian Circuit 1, Jaipur, India 1st round: [1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt [WC] Vijay Meena (IND) 11-2, 11-8, 11-1 (37m) [5] Matias Tuomi (FIN) bt [Q] Deepak Mishra (IND) 11-3, 11-6, 11-6 (32m) [Q] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) bt [8] Arthur Moineau (FRA) 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (30m) Angus Gillams (ENG) bt [LL] Ashish Keskar (IND) 11-5, 11-3, 11-9 (36m) [3] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt [Q] Gaurav Nandrajog (IND) 9-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9, 11-4 (72m) [6] Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP) bt Ravi Dixit (IND) 11-7, 11-2, 11-6 (35m) [7] Adam Murrills (ENG) bt [Q] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) 12-10, 10-12, 11-3, 9-11, 11-5 (65m) [2] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) bt Kush Kumar (IND) 10-12, 11-4, 11-9, 13-11 (108m) Quarter-finals: [1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt [5] Matias Tuomi (FIN) 11-6, 11-7, 11-2 (37m) Angus Gillams (ENG) bt [Q] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) 11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 11-3 (49m) [3] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt [6] Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP) 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 (48m) [7] Adam Murrills (ENG) bt [2] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8 (64m) Semi-finals: [1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt Angus Gillams (ENG) 12-10, 11-3, 11-2 (45m) [3] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt [7] Adam Murrills (ENG) 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-2 (55m) Final: [3] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt [1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (65m)
