GUADALAJARA: Knocking off the top seeds, India’s Raj Mondal and Sourav Saha clinched bronze medal in the Men’s Doubles’ event of the 2018 Spanish Open Challenge here late on Saturday night.
In a tense opening round, Mondal and Saha got the better of Hong Kong’s Siu Hang Lam and Pak Nam NG in a five-game battle. They lost two of the first three games (6-11. 11-6, 7-11) before recovering their poise to win the fourth and take the match into the decider.
It was a close contest, with both pairs fighting for every point. In the end, the Indian duo prevailed 12-10 for a sweet victory.
The second round was a breeze, with Camilo Giraldo of Colombia and Alfonso Olave (Chile) becoming easy fodder for them. The Indians won 11-9, 11-7, 11-7.
Mondal and Saha, however, met their match in the semifinals. They began on a high note winning the first game 11-7 but slowly disintegrated under the combined onslaught of the Korean pair of Eonrae Cho and Minhyeok Kin.
They lost the next three games 9-11, 4-11, 2-11 to make it to the finals.