Bulgaria Open: Indian pair Soumyajit Ghosh-G Sathiyan win silver after tightly fought men's doubles final

New Delhi: The Indian pair of Soumyajit Ghosh and G Sathiyan came close to toppling the top-seeded Japanese duo of Jin Uda and Maharu Yoshimura, only to end with a silver in the men’s doubles at the Bulgaria Open in Panagyurishte on Sunday. The experienced Japanese pair overcame a tough fight from the Indians to win 11-13, 11-7, 11-4, 6-11, 11-5 to take home their second title. [caption id=“attachment_3854819” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran. Ultimate Table Tennis[/caption] It was an entertaining opening game, where the Indians gave all sorts of troubles to their opponents. Despite leading comfortably, the Japanese were expected to take the game but the Indians staged a fine recovery to win the extended game. Startled by their excellent understanding in the first game, Uda and Yoshimura played a steady game to win the second game and the third one rather easily. But the Indians came back aggressively in the fourth and stopped them well short, maintaining a four-point lead almost throughout. But the Japanese allowed very little liberty in the decider as they led 3-1 straightaway. The Indians, who scored several service winners in the fourth, failed to keep the tempo even as the Japanese upped the ante to quickly pull the rug from under the Indians’ feet. For Ueda and Yoshimura this was second title in three World Tour final appearances-they won at the 2013 Japan Open and 2017 China Open. However, for Ghosh and Sathiyan this was their first appearance together in a men’s doubles final. Defeat for the duo means that India are still waiting for their first gold medal on the ITTF World Tour.