Aditya Jagtap emerged as the men’s singles champion at a Professional Squash Association challenger tour event held at Bourbon Trail in the USA. Jagtap defeated Andrew Schnell of Canada over five games 12-10, 4-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6 in the final held late on Saturday.
The third seeded Indian went through the early rounds with ease before coming face to face with the second seed Schnell for the title match. It was not easy, particularly after he slipped to a game in arrears.
Ensuring he returned every shot thrown at him, Jagtap clawed back to two games each and put it across the rival in the deciding fifth game to clinch his third career PSA title. The success should help the world number 120 get into the top 100 in PSA rankings.
Jagtap, the 26-year-old from Ahmadnagar, had defeated Mark Fuller of England in straight games in the quarter-final, winning 11-6, 11-7, 11-7. The Indian faced another Englishman in Reuben Phillips in the semis, this time stretched to four games. Jagtap won 11-5, 8-11, 11-5, 11-4 to reach the final.