Sathiyan wins third international singles title

G. Sathiyan, the top seed, bagged his third International men’s singles title with a convincing 4-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 14-12) win over Yevhen Pryschchepa of Ukraine in the final of the Czech International table tennis tournament here on Wednesday.

Earlier in the semifinals, Sathiyan’s opponent Truls Moregard of Sweden conceded in the third game, citing back pain.

Morale booster

After the early loss in the round of 16 at the WTT Contender tournament in Budapest recently, the triumph here must have come as a huge morale booster for Sathiyan.

The 28-year-old, world-ranked 39, was at his best throughout the final. His backhand blocks, forehand and backhand counters during long rallies, and sidespin serves provided him the breakthroughs when he needed them the most.

Yevhen, the fourth seed, with a world ranking of 111 started in a tepid manner, but got into the groove pretty quickly with his fierce forehand top-spin drives. In fact, the 36-year-old had four game points in the fourth game, but Sathiyan saved them all.

The results:

Men: Final: G. Sathiyan bt Yevhen Pryschchepa (Ukr) 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 14-12; Semifinals: Sathiyan bt Truls Moregard (Swe) 11-4, 11-8, 8-2 (concd.).

Women: Final: Xiaoxin Yang (Mon) bt Mariia Tailakova (Rus) 13-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-9.