Raaquib Merchant was crowned the Men’s Singles Champion at the Grand Prix Mumbai, defeating Ritesh Jaiswal 11-9 in a closely contested final. Merchant’s path to the title was far from smooth. He finished second in his pool, losing to Sudarshan Dhakne 7-11 before bouncing back with an 11-0 win over Varun Mittal. In the Round of 16, he cruised past Utkarsh Kasliwal 11-0. The quarter-final proved to be his toughest test, with Merchant edging past Vishal Jadhav 15-13 in the closest match of his campaign. He carried that form into the semi-final, beating Kartik Juneja 11-6 to book his place in the final.
