Fifth seeded Indian pair of Harmeet Desai and Souymajit Ghosh lost 12-10, 6-11, 8-11, 9-11 to second seeds Ho Kwan Kit and Ng Pak Nam of Korea to settle for the silver medal at the ITTF Challenge Polish Open in Czestochowa on Sunday.
The Indian pair, despite winning the first game on extended points, could not match the guile and pace of the Korean duo, who went from strength to strength after levelling scores in the second game. The Indians fell short in the third and fourth games in spite of Desai and Ghosh combining well, particularly in the fourth.
It was the first time when Harmeet has appeared in a doubles final of either an ITTF World Tour or ITTF Challenge series. However, Soumyajit is a past master, having earlier this year reached the World Tour Bulgaria Open doubles final in Panagyurishte, partnering G Sathiyan. But Soumyajit did win the men’s doubles gold at the Challenge Chile Open this year when he combined with Amalraj Anthony. The pair had beaten Bulgaria’s Philipp Floritz and Romania’s Hunor Szocs in the final.