ITTF Challenge: Sathiyan wins Spanish Open

After winning the ITTF World Tour Belgium Open in September last year, this is Sathiyan's second singles crown at the international level.

Sathiyan attacked and blocked with conviction to defeat Kazuhiro, who had two game points in the fifth game.

Assertive and confident, India's G. Sathiyan, seeded eighth, won the men's singles title of the 2017 ITTF Challenge Spanish Open table tennis championships here on Sunday, with a 4-2 (11-7, 3-11, 11-6, 6-11, 13-11, 11-7) win over Japan's Kazuhiro Yoshimura, seeded sixth, in the final.

Sathiyan attacked and blocked with conviction to defeat Kazuhiro, who had two game points in the fifth game. The sixth game saw Sathiyan race away after taking a 6-4 lead.

He received $8000 as prize money.

After winning the ITTF World Tour Belgium Open in September last year, this is Sathiyan's second singles crown at the international level.

Earlier, the Indian pair of Manika Batra and Mouma Das lost in the women's doubles final to Korea's Jihee Jeon and Haeun Yang 9-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9.

“It was a very good victory. To win two Pro-Tours is something no Indian has done before. I will treat this win higher than the Belgium Open as I could feel the pressure after every match. I think I played at a much higher level. My world rankings is expected to move 10 to 15 places up,” Sathiyan told Sportstar.