Manav-Manush makes runner-up finish at WTT Feeder Otocec

The Indian men's doubles pairing of Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah made a runner-up finish at the WTT Feeder Otocec tournament as they lost to Korea's Kim Minhyeok and Park Ganghyeon in the final in Slovenia on Monday.

In a nail-biting contest, the top-seeded Indian duo conceded their opening game lead to lose the contest 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 12-14, 8-11 to the Koreans in the summit clash.

In a match lasting for 44 minutes, Manav and Manush went 2-1 up in the contest, after winning the opening game 12-10. The Indian duo had a match-point chance in the fourth game at 12-11.

But Kim and Park fought back, claiming three points to win the game and forced the decider.

In the fifth and deciding game, Manav-Manush and Kim-Park were tied at 6-6 at one point. But from this stage, the Korean pair broke away to a 9-6 lead. For the remaining part of the game, they put up a solid defensive show by allowing the Indians to take only a couple of points and eventually sealed the contest to clinch the title.

This was, meanwhile, their second runner-up finish in three consecutive finals. Last month in Lebanon, Manav and Manush reached the final of the WTT Feeder Beirut event before making it to the summit clash of the WTT Feeder Beirut II tournament.

While they settled for a silver medal in the first event in Beirut, Manav and Manush secured the gold medal in the WTT Feeder Beirut II event.