Top seed Ivan Yuen (Malaysia) beat Indian and second seed Mahesh Mangaonkar 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8 in the final to emerge the men’s champion of the HCL-SRFI India squash tour, a PSA Challenger tour, at the Indian Squash Academy (ISA) here on Thursday.
Rachel Arnold beat fellow-Malaysian Wen Li Lai 11-1, 11-4, 6-11, 11-5 in the women’s final.
From 0-1 down, Rachel ruthlessly accumulated 11 points to close out the first game. “I just wanted to start well,” she said.
She attributed her third-game loss to losing focus.
Ivan said he had to keep playing at a quick pace. “Mahesh had had a couple of tough matches, coming into the final. So, I just had to keep it going quick. Also, he is pretty good with his backhand and forecourt play. I had to take that away from him,” he added.
Negative mindset
Talking about the defeat, Mahesh said, “It was tough. I became too negative with myself in the end. That, I think, cost me big time. Had I been a bit more positive in the end, maybe the result would've been in my favour.
“To be honest, I did not play good squash at all in this tournament. I kept adjusting to the conditions and they’re not really in your control. But I still wasn’t able to do to the best of my ability (on Thursday), the things which were in my control. Playing straight worked a lot better for me today. But I wasn’t doing it enough. I was deviating from my game plan in the end. I pushed as much as I could. I did everything I could.”
The results (finals):
Men: Ivan Yuen (Mas) bt Mahesh Mangaonkar 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8. Women: Rachel Arnold (Mas) bt Wen Li Lai (Mas) 11-1, 11-4, 6-11, 11-5 .
