Alvin Morada and Christian Bernardo celebrate after winning the 31st Iran Fajr International Challenge. Handout photo.
MANILA, Philippines -- 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 championship is the pair's first of the year following success from last year's two titles and two runners-up finishes. Morada and Bernardo won $1,200 and collected 4,000 points toward 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 pull themselves from a 15-all deadlock in the first game with five consecutive points to take the 1-0 lead.
The second game, however, went the way of the Filipinos from the start, as they never relinquished the advantage after leading 6-5.
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.