SPO-SQUASH-MANGAONKAR

Mangaonkar tunes up for Asiad with title win
    Mumbai, Aug 10 (PTI) Top seed Mahesh Mangaonkar tuned
up for tougher battles ahead in the Asian Games by overcoming
a fighting Abhishek Pradhan to lift the title in the 43rd
Maharashtra State Men's Squash tournament today.
    Mangaonkar, a member of the Indian Games squad, got
the better of third seed Pradhan in the all-Mumbai final 11-8,
12-10, 12-10 to pocket the champion's purse of Rs 1.3 lakh.
    Pradhan received Rs 75,000 for his runner-up finish in
the tournament, organised under the aegis of the SRFI and the
SRAM and sponsored by JSW and Raheja Vivarea at the Bombay
Gymkhana courts here.
    Pradhan, who reached the final after some hard-fought
victories, took some time to settle down, enabling title
favourite Mangaonkar to clinch the opening game.
    The second game was much more competitive with
fortunes swinging back and forth, leading up to 10-10 before
the top seed stepped up his game and managed to grab the next
two points for a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five game
match.
    The story was repeated in the third game with Pradhan
failing to convert his chances and losing it over extra points
to squander the title.
    After his victory Mangaonkar, who did not drop a
single game on his way to the title, said, "Bombay Gymkhana
has been a lucky place for me as I have given some of my best
performances here. I had a very good final with my close
friend so it was fun."
    "It was nice to have my family come and support me
which helped me to step up my performance in the tie-
breakers", he added. PTI SSR
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