PH badminton men’s doubles team triumphs in Iran

Alvin Morada and Christian Bernardo captured the 31st Iran Fajr International Challenge men’s doubles title, beating Indonesians Raymond Indra and Daniel Edgar Marvino, 21-16, 21-17, Sunday at the Iran Badminton Federation Sports Hall in Tehran.

The BWF International Challenge tournament is a fitting follow up to the duo’s success last year that saw them win two titles apart from posting two runners-up finishes.

Morada and Bernardo shared the $1,200 top prize on top of collecing 4,000 points for the BWF World Rankings.

Morada, who finished as a runner-up with Aries Delos Santos in the 2015 edition of the tournament, and Bernardo needed to push themselves from a 15-all deadlock in the first game with five consecutive points to take the 1-0 lead.

Morada and Bernardo booked themselves a place in the final after taking down another Indonesian pair in Teges Satriaji Cahyo Hutomo and Christopher David Wijaya, 21-14, 23-21, in the semifinal.