India's Mahesh Mangaonkar went down in a five-game thriller to top-seed Ivan Yuen of Malaysia in the men's final of the HCL SRFI Indian tour squash championship (Chennai leg) here on Thursday. The top-seed bounced back after losing the first game 7-11 to take the next two before surrendering the fourth and edging the second seeded Indian player 11-8 in the decider in 77 minutes. World number 46 Yuen won 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8 for a memorable victory. In the semifinals, Mangaonkar had quelled the challenge of fellow Indian Harinder Pal Sandhu, on a comeback trail, in five games (8-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7) while Yuen had beaten Aditya Jagtap (India) 11-2, 11-9, 12-10. In the women's final, Yuen's compatriot Rachel Arnold, the No 1 seed, beat fellow Malaysian Wen Li Lai (fifth seed) 11-1, 11-4, 6-11, 11-5 in 33 minutes to take the title. SRFI president Debendranath Sarangi, Secretary General Cyrus Poncha, former India hockey captain Vasudevan Baskaran and HCL chief strategy officer Sundar Mahalingam were present at the valedictory.
Results (finals): Women: Rachel Arnold beat Wen Li Lai 11-1, 11-4, 6-11, 11-5.
Men: Ivan Yuen beat Mahesh Mangaonkar 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8.
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