Thought Mumbai lad Mahesh Mangaonkar was unable to beat Malaysian top seed Kamran Khan in the men's open semi-finals of the ISP Squash tournament at Khar Gymkhana yesterday, he succeeded in winning the hearts of the 100-odd supporters cheering him on during his 9-11, 6-11, 4-11 defeat
Thought Mumbai lad Mahesh Mangaonkar was unable to beat Malaysian top seed Kamran Khan in the men's open semi-finals of the ISP Squash tournament at Khar Gymkhana yesterday, he succeeded in winning the hearts of the 100-odd supporters cheering him on during his 9-11, 6-11, 4-11 defeat.
Kamran Khan (in red) returns to Mahesh Mangaonkar during their ISP
squash semi-final match at Khar Gym yesterday
"I always knew it was going to be difficult to beat Khan, but I was expecting to take at least one set off him. Unfortunately, I couldn't. But it's still early days in my career and I am confident of beating Khan whenever we meet the next time," said Mangaonkar. World No 80, Khan said, "I was confident of an easy win, but Mahesh put up a good fight." Meanwhile, Mangaonkar is the favourite to win the U-19 title today.
ADVERTISEMENT