KUALA LUMPUR: Best friends Christian Didier Chin and partner Sergey Fomin were far from their best but were still good enough to clinch the Asian Junior Tennis Championships doubles title in Pune, India on Friday.
Christian and Fomin of Uzbekistan defeated India’s Dev Javia-Mann Shah 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in the final at the Deccan Gymnkhana but it was not as straightforward as it looked.
Fomin had been ill and was forced to receive treatment before the doubles final.
"The weather is really hot here and Fomin was not feeling good so he went to receive treatment before our match started.
"We knew we could beat them (Dev-Mann) as we had played them many times before but they came out with nothing to lose and were playing very well today.
"We on the other hand were not playing at our best, I was also worried about Fomin who was ill. But we still managed to win it which is a good sign."
Christian, 18, added that he was delighted to win the title with his best friend who is a year younger than him.
"We have reached a few semi-finals before but this is the first time we have won together and it feels great to do it here at the Asian Junior Championships," added Christian.
"We have been playing together since we were 13 and are pretty much like brothers."
It is Christian's third doubles title this year having won the China Junior Championship with Tsai Chang-Lin (Taiwan) in September and the Ho Chi Minh leg of the ITF Junior Circuit with Rishabh Sharda (India) in July.