Divij-Raja end runners-up in Johannesburg Challenger

Divij Sharan and Purav Raja had to be content with yet another runners-up finish after losing the title clash of the ATP Soweto Open to Prakash Amritraj and Rajeev Ram in Johannesburg.

Playing their third final The second seeded Divij and Purav fought their heart out against an unseeded but a formidable Indo-American pairing before losing 6-7 (1), 6-7 (1) in the final of the $100000 hard court Challenger.

Divij and Purav had won the Kyoto event in March while they had ended runners-up last month in Leon, Mexico.

It was the first doubles title of the season for Prakash, who is based in US, along with Ram, who is a formidable doubles players with the rank of 46.

Ram had teamed up with India's Rohan Bopanna for a brief period this season before the latter combined with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi.