Rajanvir Singh Dharni rallies to beat Arunav Vaish 5-11, 11-9, 11-2

Rajanvir Singh Dharni rallied from an opening-set loss to defeat Arunav Vaish 5-11, 11-9, 11-2 and lift the Men’s Singles 19+ crown at the PickleSpin PWR50 Cup in Kanpur on March 1, 2026. The win capped an intensive three-day tournament and completed Dharni’s run through the top half of the draw.

After a slow start that handed Vaish the first set 11-5, Dharni tightened his serve placement and converted on break opportunities in the second set to take a narrow 11-9 win. He carried that momentum into the decider, overwhelming Vaish 11-2 to seal the title and turn a one-set deficit into a two-set victory.

Dharni’s route to the final was emphatic. In the quarterfinals he beat Vimanyu Agarwal 11-3, 11-2 in what coverage described as a one-sided encounter. He followed that with a convincing semifinal victory over Ayush Bansal, 11-6, 11-2, to book his place in the final on the third day of play.

Arunav Vaish reached the title match after a comfortable quarterfinal win over Harsh Sharma, 11-2, 11-2. Vaish’s semifinal against Mukul Lodhi produced the unusual scoreline 11-0, 9-11, 11-0 — a match described in reporting as tightly contested despite the two 11-0 sets — which set up his clash with Dharni for the Men’s Singles 19+ crown.

The PickleSpin PWR50 Cup in Kanpur carried Indian Pickleball Association sanctioning and was staged over three days, with the final played March 1, 2026. The PWR50 designation identifies the event within the PickleSpin series; event organizers and the association provided the tournament framework and official results for the Men’s Singles 19+ draw.

Dharni’s tournament scoreline reflects a dominant path through the draw: quarterfinal 11-3, 11-2; semifinal 11-6, 11-2; final 5-11, 11-9, 11-2. Vaish’s run included quarterfinal 11-2, 11-2 and semifinal 11-0, 9-11, 11-0 before falling short in the final.

On the women’s side, coverage from the same event noted Vaishnavi Lodhi was crowned Women’s Singles 19+ champion over Kanushree Garg. Dharni’s comeback in Kanpur stands as one of the tournament’s most resilient performances and delivers a clear result as the PWR50 series moves on from the Kanpur stop.