Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal notched the biggest title of his career when he clinched the US Open Table Tennis Championships crown, beating Keineth Thomas of Slovakia in the final at Michigan.
The world No 76 Indian overcame tough resistance before scoring a 11-9, 5-11, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 win.
The title made him richer by $10,000, and the success will surely boost his confidence when he defends the men's singles title in the Commonwealth Games.
"I am really going along nicely at the moment and happy to beat the Slovakian in the US Open. It was a tough final," said Sharath.
"I am particularly happy to have come back after losing the second and third sets. Once I took the two subsequent sets, I became confident. Yet, the Slovak was too good and kept himself in the game," he added.
Among other Indians in the fray, Sanil Shetty (boys' under-21), Utkarsh Gupta (boys' under-13) and K Spoothy (girls' under-13) also emerged triumphant.
"I did not play well in Delhi (in Indian Open). May be, it was the pressure to perform in front of the home crowd. But in the US Open, I kept attacking and it paid dividends against Japanese Hannamura Nayoo.
"After the winning first set, which went to 16-14, I was confident. Yet Nayoo proved a hard nut to crack as he took two sets before I subdued him," said Shetty.
Secretary-General of the Table Tennis federation of India Dhanraj Choudhary hoped that the wins would augur well for the Indians in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games in October.
"We are trying to give maximum exposure to the teams so that they, particularly, Sharath can defend his (CWG singles) title in October," said Choudhary.
The Indian paddlers now head to Cairo for the Egypt Open to be held from July 7-11.
