Bengaluru, Sept. 5: There was more golden glory in the kitty for India on the badminton court as Krishna Nagar picked up India's 19th medal at the ongoing Paralympics on the final day in Tokyo.
Tokyo Paralympics: History-making IAS officer Suhas Yathiraj wins silver medal
In the men's singles SH6 Gold Medal match, Nagar fended off Hong Kong's Chu Man Kai to clinch the yellow metal and take India's medal count to an all-time high of 19.
With eyes set on India's 19th medal from the Tokyo Paralympics, Nagar did not give Chu any leeway as they went neck-to-neck from the onset with the scores level at 5-5 early on in the first game. After Kai Chu was just ahead with the scoreline reading 11-10 in the first game, Nagar put up a stellar display to take the first game 21-17.
In the second game the Hong Kong shuttler fought back as he raced to a 12-7 lead, before wrapping up the second game 21-16 to take the gold medal match into the decider against the second seeded Nagar.
Starting the decider, Nagar raced to a 7-2 lead over Kai Chu, before Kai Chu fought back to narrow the lead to 6-7. Heading into the break of the decider, Nagar still held onto the lead with the scoreline reading 11-7. Following the break, a determined Chu narrowed the deficit, before levelling the scores for the first time in the third game at 13-all.
But a gritty Nagar, held onto to his nerves, to fend off the Hong Kong shuttler and pick up his gold medal, India's fifth gold at the Paralympics. Nagar defeated Chu Man Kai 21-17, 16-21, 21-17. Earlier, Nagar, had overcome Krysten Coombs 21-10, 21-11 to seal his final berth.
With Nagar's gold medal, India now have 19 medals, including five gold medals, eight silver medals and six bronze medals.
Meanwhile, the Indian pair of Palak Kohli and Pramod Bhagat went down fighting to Japan's Daisuke Fujihara and Akiko Sugino in the bronze medal match of the mixed team SL3-SU5 badminton event.
Playing for bronze, the Indian pair fought hard before losing the first game 21-23 to the Japanese pair. Despite fighting hard, the Indian pair lost the mixed doubles bronze medal match in straight games. The Japanese pair of Fujihara and Sugino beat the Indian pair 21-23, 21-18. And that brought an end to India's campaign at the Paralympics.
Earlier in the day, Suhas Yathiraj added India's 18th medal from the Tokyo Paralympis settled for silver after losing 21-15, 17-21, 15-21 to France's Lucas Mazur in the men's singles SL4 gold medal match. India finished with a record 19 medals at the Tokyo Paralympics.