Pratul wins maiden title at Bahrain International Challenge

In a fiercely fought battle, 22-year-old Pratul Joshi beat Aditya Joshi 21-17, 12-21, 21-15 in a match which lasted for an hour to win the Bahrain International Challenge.

Pratul Joshi in action.

Young Indian shuttler Pratul Joshi clinched his maiden international title by notching up a hard-fought win over Aditya Joshi in the finals of the USD 17,500 Bahrain International Challenge badminton tournament at Segayya in Bahrain.

In a fiercely fought battle between siblings, it was 22-year-old Pratul who emerged as the winner after he prevailed 21-17, 12-21, 21-15 over Aditya in the summit clash which lasted for an hour on Sunday.

In the semifinals, Pratul, seeded third, had beaten compatriot Siddharth Thakur 21-16, 22-20, while fourth seed Aditya stunned top seed Anand Pawar 21-19, 21-7.

There were other Indians who had reached the finals in men’s and women’s doubles.

Top seeds Vighnesh Devlekar and Rohan Kapoor lost 18-21 17-21 to second seeded Russian pair of Evgenij Dremin and Denis Grachev in men’s doubles, while Farha Mather and Ashna Roy suffered a 12-21 18-21 defeat at the hands of Bahrain’s Tanisha Crasto and Aprilsasi Lejarsar Variella of Indonesia in the women’s doubles finals.