JOIN US The Indian men’s squash team dished out a dominating performance to notch up a commanding 3-0 win over Finland and enter the pre-quarters of the World Team Championship in Mulhouse, France.
After the tight escape against Argentina, the eighth seed Indian team brought in Ramit Tandon in place of Harinder Pal Sandhu. The gamble paid rich dividends as Tandon tamed the dangerous Henrik Mustonen in the opening encounter to set India on course for a straight-game win and top the Pool ‘H’.
The 22-year old Mustonen was heavy favourite going into the match, given his 36th world ranking, a whopping 196 places higher than Tandon. Tandon showed no fear, volleying brilliantly to give Mustonen the run around.
The Indian wrapped up the first game quickly as a shell-shocked Mustonen tried to figure out what hit him in those opening minutes. There was no letting up from Tandon as he continued his attacking style, going for his volleys and backhand drops to torment the Finnish No 2.
Mahesh Mangaonkar was next on court and proved too powerful for Matias Tuomi. Mahesh unleashed his powerful strokes, smashing hard and romped home in style, winning 11-4 11-7 11-7 to seal the win and a last-16 spot for the Indians, leaving Saurav Ghosal to play out a dead rubber.
Results: Ramit Tandon bt Henrik Mustonen 11-4, 11-6, 11-13, 11-4; Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Matias Tuomi 11-4, 11-7, 11-7; Saurav Ghosal bt Olli Tuominen 11/7, 11/2 7/11, 11/9.