Christian Bernardo and Alvin Morada edged Indonesian pair Raymond Indra and Daniel Edgar Marvino, 21-16, 21-17, to capture the men’s doubles gold medal in the recent Iran Fajr International Badminton Challenge in Tehran, Iran.
Bernardo and Morada had to dig deep to outlast their rivals and rule the 42-pair field from 11 countries.
Prior to the finals victory, the Filipino tandem survived Canada’s Sheng Xiaodong and Wong Hing Long, 21-15, 26-24, before they squeaked past hometown bets Arshia Amalkonande and Ali Hayati, 20-22, 21-16, 21-13.
Bernardo and Morada further encountered stiff challenge from Malaysians Lwi Sheng Kao and Jimmy Wong, but bounced back from an opening-set stumble to prevail 19-21, 21-15, 21-14, in the quarterfinals.
They, however, resisted the late challenge from Indonesians Teges Satriaji Cahyo Hutomo and Christopher Wijaya with a 21-14, 23-21 win to book a seat in the final.
Meanwhile, other PH bets were unsuccessful to barge into the podium after early exits in their respective events.
Jewel Angelo Albo lost to Malaysian Kim Sheng Chua, 21-14, 21-15, in the men’s singles Round of 64; Mikaela Joy De Guzman yielded to India’s Mir Tasnim, 21-16, 21-13, in the women’s singles Round of 32; and the pair of Julius Villabrille and Solomon Padiz Jr. succumbed to Malaysian duo Jiang Sheng Choi and Bryan Goonting, 21-16, 22-20, in the men’s doubles Round of 16.