K Nandagopal bagged the double crown in the Kharkiv International Challenge badminton tournament on Sunday winning the mixed and men’s doubles titles in the second largest city of Ukraine.
The 25-year-old claimed his second mixed doubles crown at this level as he teamed up with Mahima Aggarwal to defeat compatriots Saurabh Sharma and Anoushka Parikh 21-14 21-15 in just 30 minutes before he and Rohan Kapoor upset top seed K Tarun and Alwyn Francis 18-21 24-22 21-18 in just under an hour to make it the most fruitful day for him.
The unseeded men’s doubles combination had to save one match point in the second game and could only take the title deciding encounter into the decider on their third game point.
Nandagopal’s last international title in mixed and men’s doubles had come way back in 2013 when he won the Maldives International mixed doubles crown with K Maneesha and the Bahrain International final with V Diju.
India’s hopes of bagging three of the five titles on offer, however, suffered a blow after third seed Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli let go of a 18-16 advantage in the third and final game to lose 18-21 21-16 23-21 against Natalya Voytsekh in exactly an hour.
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