Challenger Events
Open International Niort Venise Verte: Pajares Bernabeu Claims First 20k Title
Spanish No.1 Iker Pajares Bernabeu secured his first PSA Challenger Tour 20 title, beating Scotland’s Rory Stewart in the Open International Niort Venise Verte final.
The final was a battle of the top two seeds, but Stewart was coming in on the fresher legs, having been given a walkover in his semi-final due to Abhay Singh’s injury.
Bernabeu, meanwhile, had played Mazen Gamel in the last four, although he did take just 36 minutes to beat the Egyptian, dropping only 12 points in the match.
Perhaps carrying some momentum from that performance, the No.1 seed raced out to a 4-0 lead, and while Stewart fought back to make it 6-5, Bernabeu pulled clear once again to take game one 11-6.
Game two followed a similar pattern, with the Spaniard winning the first four points before Stewart close the gap, only for Bernabeu to once again open up a sizeable lead as the game headed for its conclusion, winning it 11-5 in 13 minutes.
Sitting just one game from victory, Bernabeu showed no signs of nerves, finding himself 6-1 up after little more than five minutes, and closed out victory shortly afterwards to secure the trophy.
The title is Bernabeu’s 11th on the PSA Tour and first since 2021, when he won the RFES Spanish Open Ciudad de Palencia.
It’s also his first win in a 20k event, with his previous biggest victory being at the 15k Qatar Circuit No.5 back in 2017.
Result: Men’s Final
[1] Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) bt [2] Rory Stewart (SCO) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 (48m)
