India’s Soumyajit Ghosh won both the men’s singles and doubles titles at the Seamaster ITTF Challenge Chile Open in Santiago on Sunday, reported IANS.
Ghosh beat Anthony Amalraj 4-2 (8-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7) in the final of the men’s singles draw while also partnering Amalraj to the men’s doubles title, defeating the Bulgarian pair of Philipp Floritz and Romania’s Hunor Szocs 4-0 (13-11, 10-12, 14-12, 11-9).
With the win, Ghosh became the third Indian to win a men’s singles title at an ITTF Challenge Series or ITTF World Tour tournament while Amalraj became the fourth Indian to reach a final at this stage. It is also the first time that India have won a men’s doubles title on either the ITTF Challenge Series or ITTF World Tour.
Amalraj made a good start to the final but Ghosh reeled off a series of wins in the next three games to take a commanding lead. Amalraj tried to fight with a composed victory in the fifth game but Ghosh proved too strong as he won the sixth game and with it, the title.
“I had to start the sixth game aggressively because I kept thinking about my first big international title. It was hard to win against Amalraj. It took some time to adapt to the ball, harder than the one we used before enabling more power but less spin,” said Soumyajit in a release. “Now I’m the third to win such a tournament. I’m really happy. But being the top seed, I felt the pressure all through.”
Ghosh and Amalraj also won four tight games in partnership to win a historic doubles title.
“This is big for us, it’s the first time we have won such a title; it’s the first time for India,” said Ghosh.
