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G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai win men's double title at WTT Contender Tunis
G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai win men's double title at WTT Contender Tunis
The Indian table tennis duo of G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai on Saturday notched up their first international pro tour title with a dominating 3-1 win over Emmanual Lebesson and Alexandre Cassin in the men's double summit clash at the WTT Contender Tunis here.
Sathiyan and Desai beat the French duo 11-9 4-11 11-9 11-6.
The Indian pair pocketed the first game but they lost momentum and allowed the French to level the match.
Sathiyan and Desai, however, clawed their way back by taking the lead once again and then hardly broke a sweat in winning the fourth game and the title.
"It is the first ever men's doubles international title for myself individually and as a pair (with Desai). We are playing together after a long time and it's fantastic to start off in a great manner with a gold medal in a pro tour title," Sathyan told PTI.
He said speed was their main weapon and they can surprise and take advantage of their opponents in that aspect of the game.
"We have beaten three good pairs, the German pair in pre quarterfinals were doubles specialists. In the semifinals, we had beaten world number 7 Hungarian pair and to have a convincing win against the French pair in the final is satisfying.
"Credit to Harmeet, he played really well," added Sathiyan.
"Doubles victory for Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Harmeet Desai! #Congratulations for clinching the #WTTTunis Men’s Doubles title! #WTT #tabletennis #pingpong," World Table Tennis (WTT), the commercial and events company of International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), tweeted.
The Indian duo had fashioned a spectacular come-from-behind victory against Hungary's Nandor Ecseki and Adam Szudi in the semifinals on Friday.
