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Men’s singles top seed Rahul defeated Delhi’s Santosh Bhagat 11-4 11-10 12-10 in the 35+ category, while Priyanka beat Monica Menon 11-2 5-11 11-9 in the 35+ women’s singles final.
(Credit: X)
Top seed Rahul Belwal and Priyanka Mehta emerged winners in men’s and women’s singles category at the fourth IPA Pickleball Nationals on Saturday.
Men’s singles top seed Rahul defeated Delhi’s Santosh Bhagat 11-4 11-10 12-10 in the 35+ category, while Priyanka beat Monica Menon 11-2 5-11 11-9 in the 35+ women’s singles final.
The match between the top seed and the unseeded Santosh was expected to be a one-way traffic but the latter turned up brilliantly and fought till the last minute only for Rahul to trump him in the end.
Rahul, with a DUPR rank of 4.924 who had come into the final with a 15-3 win over fourth seed Yuvraj Singh, was brilliant in the opening game as he didn’t give any space to Santosh and bagged it 11-4.
But the Santosh, who was coming into the summit showdown with a 15-11 victory over second-seeded Samrat Ghosh in the semifinal, managed to eke out errors from Rahul’s game and bagged the second 11-10 to take the match into a decider.
The third and decisive game was a one-way traffic for the most part as Santosh seemed set to pull off an upset as he led 7-0.
But the top seed turned the tables around and to win the third game 12-10 and clinch the title.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
