by Simon Daish

Despite making a slow start to the final the Korean pairing pulled off a terrific comeback effort to reach the top step of the podium in the German city of Magdeburg (8-11, 3-11, 11-5, 16-14, 11-6).

Competing in the upper half of the draw the Korean pairing dropped just two games from their three encounters leading up to the final, but faced a tough task in the title match with opponents Yuto Kizukuri and Tomokazu Harimoto having impressed throughout the course of the tournament.

Yuto Kizukuri and Tomokazu Harimoto, aged 18 and 14 respectively, were the brighter partnership in the opening stages of the title match and looked on track to receive their first trophy in the category with a 7-10 points lead in game four.

However, Lee Sangsu and Jeoung Youngsik refused to give up the fight, recovering to force a deciding seventh game which also went in their favour.

Lee Sangsu and Jeoung Youngsik have now won their first Men’s Doubles trophy as a team, and have earned Korea Republic its third gold medal in the competition on this year’s ITTF World Tour.

Defeat for Yuto Kizukuri and Tomokazu Harimoto means that the Japanese duo match their previous best record in the category.

The teenage stars also contested the Men’s Doubles final at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum China Open in Chengdu where they secured a silver medal for their efforts.