Paralympics: Pramod Bhagat wins badminton gold, Manoj Sarkar bronze

Bengaluru, September 4: India's Pramod Bhagat beat Great Britain's Daniel Betheel 21-14, 21-17 to clinch the Men's singles SL3 category gold at Paralympics 2020 in Tokyo on Saturday (September4).

The world No.1, who is the current Asian and world champion, added the Paralympics gold to his trophy cabinet by defeating the British world No.2.

It was double podium for India in the same category with Manoj Sarkar defeating Japan's Daisuke Fujihara 22-20, 21-13 to clinch the bronze.

With badminton making its debut at the Paralympics this year, Bhagat, the current world No. 1, thus became the first Indian to win a gold medal in the sport.

A dominant #Gold medal for #IND 🔥 💪

World No. 1⃣ Pramod Bhagat overcomes a second set deficit to win 21-14, 21-17 against #GBR's Daniel Bethell in the #ParaBadminton Men's Singles SL3 Final!

India's 2nd 🥇medal of the day! 😍#Tokyo2020 #Paralympics @PramodBhagat83 pic.twitter.com/UnmkTecHrE

— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) September 4, 2021

The top seeded Indian, also an Asian champion, showed great mental fortitude as he prevailed over Bethell in a thrilling final that lasted 45 minutes at the Yoyogi National Stadium.

The 33-year-old from Bhubaneswar also remains in contention for a bronze medal in mixed doubles SL3-SU5 class.

Bhagat and his partner Palak Kohli will square off against Japanese pair of Daisuke Fujihara and Akiko Sugino in the bronze medal play off on Sunday. They had lost the semifinals 3-21, 15-21 to Indonesian combination of Hary Susanto and Leani Ratri Oktila earlier in the day.

Tokyo Paralympics: Pramod Bhagat seeks missing Paralympic gold medal

Bhagat, who had contracted polio when he was four years old, picked up the sports after watching his neighbours play. Initially, he competed against able-bodied players before getting into competitive para badminton in 2006.

He eventually emerged as one of the best para shuttlers in the country with 45 international medals under his belt, including four World Championship gold medals and a gold and a bronze in 2018 Asian Para Games.

He also had started his career as a badminton coach but took a break in 2019 to focus on Tokyo Paralympics qualification. In 2019, he received the Arjuna Award and Biju Patnaik Award for Excellence in Sports in India.

From IAS to Tokyo Paralympics final: Badminton star Suhas Yathiraj creates history

Earlier in the day, Suhas Yathiraj and Krishna Nagar also sailed into the men's singles finals of SL4 class and SH6 class respectively.

In SL3 classification, athletes with lower limb impairment are allowed to compete.

Manoj does it for 🇮🇳! #IND's Manoj Sarkar bags the #Bronze medal in #ParaBadminton Men's Singles SL3, getting the better of #JPN's Daisuke Fujihara. 🥉

For the second time today, 2⃣ Indians make up the podium places. Wow. #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/CrW8NMBC3v

— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) September 4, 2021

With Manoj clinching the bronze, India's overall tally at Paralympics 2020 has gone to an all-time high of 17 -- that includes -- four gold, six silver and seven bronze medals.

The Paralympics 2020 Games, which was held amidst the raging coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, will conclude in the Japanese capital city on Sunday (September 5).

Paralympics: Manish wins gold, Singhraj silver as it's an Indian 1-2 in shooting

The double podium was the second of the day for India on Day 12 of the Paralympics Games 2020.

Earlier, in the day, Manish Narwal won the gold and Singhraj Adhana the silver in the Mixed 50M Pistol SH category to give India its first 1-2 in the Paralympics.

Paralympics: Singhraj defies the odds to win his second medal

For Singhraj, it was his second medal at Tokyo Paralympics 2020 following his bronze in the 10M air pistol SH1 category.

Singhraj followed the suit of fellow shooter Avani Lekhara, who too had won two medals in Paralympics Tokyo 2020.

(With Agency inputs)