Maha Open | Jeevan-Vijay duo downs Bayldon-Romios pair, clinches yet another doubles crown

Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth win Pune Metropolitan Challenger doubles final in thrilling match.

Top seeds Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth beat second seeds Blake Bayldon and Matthew Romios of Australia 3-6, 6-3, [10-0] in the doubles final of the Pune Metropolitan $160,000 Maha Open Challenger tennis tournament at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune on Saturday.

It was the sixth title as a pair for Jeevan and Vijay who had won their first title together in 2012. The champion collected 100 ATP points and $7,960. The runner-up pocketed 60 points and $4,600.

It was the 35th doubles crown in the professional circuit for the 36-year-old Jeevan. It was the 27th title for the 38-year-old Vijay. The two had won the Tour event last year in Hangzhou.

In singles, sixth seed Brandon Holt of USA set up a title clash with Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic.

Brandon beat eighth seed Alexis Galarneau of Canada 7-5, 6-4, after having led 5-0 in the first set. Dalibor had to fight his way past Khumoyun Sultanov of Uzbekistan after losing the first set in the tie-break. However, the Uzbek retired while trailing 1-3 in the decider owing to exhaustion.

It has been a consistent run in the three Challengers in India for the 22-year-old Dalibor, who had made the semifinals in Chennai and the second round in Delhi. He will be looking for his maiden Challenger title.

The 26-year-old Brandon, ranked a career-best 153, will be looking for his second Challenger crown this season, after having won the Nonthaburi Challenger in Thailand.