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India's G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai got the better of France's Emmanuel Lebesson and Alexandra Cassin 3-1 in the final of the WTT Contender Table Tennis Tournament in Tunis. It was the duo's first first doubles title.
Sathiyan and Harmeet beat the French pairing 11-9 4-11 11-9 11-6. The Indians pocketed the first game but lost momentum and allowed their opponents to restore parity. The French pair took a 5-1 lead and later extended to 9-3 to win the second game.
Sathiyan and Harmeet clawed their way back by taking the lead once again in a close third game that saw their fortunes fluctuate. The Indian pair then hardly broke a sweat in the fourth game, taking the lead 4-1, then 6-5, never looking back en route to the title.
Sathiyan had previously lost three doubles finals partnering Achanta Sharath Kamal, Soumyajit Ghosh and Sanil Shetty.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, Sathiyan said he was elated about winning his first doubles title and attributed the win to the understanding both players had. He said:
"It feels good as it is my/our first doubles title and it's a big win. What worked for us was that we are both aggressive players and knew each other - our game, our strokes, and the belief we had in each other - and that combined well and it came out successful."
Sathiyan said the backing the players get from each other stands out in their successful partnership.
"The key factor between us was understanding. We have been through the tide watching each other from the age-group tournaments. We back-up each other, even if one of us hesitates to play a shot or try something different, the other backs that up. That's the confidence we have in each other."
Sathiyan and Harmeet worked hard for the win
Winning the title wasn't a cakewalk by any means and both the players had to work hard for it.
Winning the semi-final in a come-from-behind resurgence against Hungary's Nandor Ecseki and Adam Szudi was key as it boosted the players' confidence.
It also gave the Indian pair the license to go for the kill and they did it in spectacular fashion.
Speaking about how Lebesson and Cassin varied the pace of the game and tried to bring it under their control but ultimately couldn't, Sathiyan said:
"The challenge was when the opponents were varying the pace. We were up for it by staying consistent in our aggression and not playing too hard. We did vary the pace as well but we made sure we didn't drop our guard, too."
Both Sathiyan and Harmeet were up to the challenge and had their strategies in place. They complemented each other well and that remained the key to their win.
"When the game was slowing down on one player, we made sure the other backed it up. We kind of covered and hit our shots, where we could analyze the pace and we were pushing them on the backfoot too."
Sathiyan now heads to the next leg of the WTT Contender in Slovenia.
