New Delhi: India survived some anxious moments before prevailing over Argentina in their opening group fixture of the WSF Men's World Team Squash Championship in Mulhouse, France.
The long opening day finished with a thriller when eighth seeds India were forced to fight back from a match down to beat 21/24 seeds Argentina 2-1 at the 24th staging of the event since 1967.
It was outsider Robertino Pezzota, who rocked the boat, when the 30-year-old ranked 159 in the world recovered from 2-1 down to beat Indian number two Harinder Pal Sandhu - ranked almost 90 places higher - 11-9 2-11 6-11 13-11 11-6 in a 99-minute marathon.
It was midway through the match that all the lights in the venue failed, leaving the three glass courts in complete darkness. India's numero uno player, Saurav Ghosal, scored an emphatic straight-game win over Hernan D'Arcangelo in 44 minutes to draw parity. Mahesh Mangaonkar settled the issue in his team's favour with a 3-1 victory over Leandro Romiglio.
"I wasn't really feeling the pressure and from the second game on I started to slow the pace down and it worked for me. It's a big relief to get the team off to a winning start," said Mahesh.
The championships are being held across two venues in Mulhouse - the Espace Squash 3000 Centre and the Palais Des Sports - with three ASB all-glass showcourts.
Pool H: [8] India bt [21/24] Argentina 2-1 Harinder Pal Sandhu lost to Robertino Pezzota 9-11 11-2 11-6 11-13 6-11 (99m) Saurav Ghosal bt Hernan D'Arcangelo 11-7 11-8 11-2 (44m) Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Leandro Romiglio 8-11 11-5 11-6 11-8 (51m).
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