India at Paralympics day 11 as it happened: Pramod Bhagat, Manish Narwal win splendid golds
Updates through the penultimate day from Tokyo Paralympics.
Follow Scroll.in’s coverage of Tokyo 2020 Paralympics here.
Key updates:
- Badminton: Pramod Bhagat wins SL3 gold medal, Manoj Sarkar takes SL3 bronze. Suhas Yathiraj reaches men’s singles SL4 medal match. Krishna Nagar reaches SH6 gold medal match. Tarun Dhillon, Pramod Bhagat-Palak Kohli through to bronze medal matches.
- Shooting: Manish Narwal wins gold and Singhraj takes silver in P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 pistol final
- Javelin throw: Athletics campaign comes to a close with Navdeep finishing 4, more on the Twitter thread here.
- NOTE: If you are accessing this blog from the mobile Twitter app and see an “amp” link, open it from this link through a web browser for quicker live updates.
India's Paralympics medallists, end of Day 11
Name | Sport | Event | Medal | Name |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sumit Antil | Athletics | Men's Javelin Throw - F64 | GOLD | Sport Class: F64 |
Pramod Bhagat | Badminton | Men's Singles SL3 | GOLD | Sport Class: SL3 |
Manish Narwal | Shooting | P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 | GOLD | Sport Class: SH1 |
Avani Lekhara | Shooting | R2 - Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 | GOLD | Sport Class: SH1 |
Yogesh Kathuniya | Athletics | Men's Discus Throw - F56 | SILVER | Sport Class: F56 |
Nishad Kumar | Athletics | Men's High Jump - T47 | SILVER | Sport Class: T47 |
Mariyappan Thangavelu | Athletics | Men's High Jump - T63 | SILVER | Sport Class: T42 |
Praveen Kumar | Athletics | Men's High Jump - T64 | SILVER | Sport Class: T44 |
Devendra Jhajharia | Athletics | Men's Javelin Throw - F46 | SILVER | Sport Class: F46 |
Singhraj Adhana | Shooting | P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 | SILVER | Sport Class: SH1 |
Bhavina Patel | Table Tennis | Women's Singles - Class 4 | SILVER | Sport Class: 4 |
Harvinder Singh | Archery | Men's Individual Recurve - Open | BRONZE | Sport Class: ST |
Sharad Kumar | Athletics | Men's High Jump - T63 | BRONZE | Sport Class: T42 |
Sundar Singh Gurjar | Athletics | Men's Javelin Throw - F46 | BRONZE | Sport Class: F46 |
Manoj Sarkar | Badminton | Men's Singles SL3 | BRONZE | Sport Class: SL3 |
Singhraj Adhana | Shooting | P1 - Men's 10m Air Pistol SH1 | BRONZE | Sport Class: SH1 |
Avani Lekhara | Shooting | R8 - Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 | BRONZE | Sport Class: SH1 |
Medals table: A fabulous day for India comes to an end. Two double podium finishes make it an unforgettable one for sports fans. Here’s a look at the medal table:
Medal table
1 | People's Republic of China | 93 | 57 | 50 | 200 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Great Britain | 41 | 38 | 43 | 122 |
3 | RPC | 36 | 32 | 49 | 117 |
4 | United States of America | 35 | 36 | 30 | 101 |
5 | Netherlands | 25 | 16 | 16 | 57 |
6 | Ukraine | 24 | 47 | 27 | 98 |
7 | Brazil | 22 | 19 | 30 | 71 |
8 | Australia | 20 | 28 | 30 | 78 |
9 | Italy | 14 | 29 | 26 | 69 |
10 | Azerbaijan | 14 | 1 | 4 | 19 |
26 | India | 4 | 7 | 6 | 17 |
Sarkar on his bronze: “This is a dream come true and a dream moment. I would like to dedicate this whole tournament and moment to the whole country. But this particular moment I’d like to dedicate to my wife because she has encouraged me to put my anger on the court. The medal is for my country and the match is for my wife.”
Bhagat on the final: What a match, what a medal!
On the comeback in the second game:
“I just focused. There was a lot of drift and I focused on each and every point, and I focused on playing the shuttle. My focus was on each point, rather than winning the whole game. Every point was crucial.”
On winning Paralympic gold:
“This is the first time Para badminton has featured at the Paralympic Games and it is a very proud moment for me to represent India. It’s a first gold medal for India in Para badminton and it’s a moment to cherish.”
On his opponent:
“I have lost to Bethell previously, so for this match I stayed focused this time. This was a learning opportunity for me.” (BWF)
Badminton medal ceremony: Starting with SL3...
ATHLETICS: As is usually the case at the Paralympics for India, track and field has brought in a lot of joy. Badminton could get close this time around, but Indian athletics campaign comes to a close with 1 gold, 5 silver, 2 bronze for a total of EIGHT medals.
Athletics Men’s Javelin Throw - F41: And that is how the Indian track and field campaign comes to a close. Navdeep kept going for it, could not get close to the best. The bronze was within touching distance.
Athletics Men’s Javelin Throw - F41: Navdeep doesn’t like his final attempt, it is below the 35m mark it looked like but he makes it a foul anyway. Another 4th place finish for India. #IndiaAndFouthPlaceAtTheSummerGames the story continues.
Men’s Javelin Throw - F41: ANOTHER WORLD RECORD! China’s Sun Pengxiang throws a massive 47.13 to set a new world record beating the 45.82 mark he set in the first attempt today. INCREDIBLE!
Athletics Men’s Javelin Throw - F41: So ahead of the final attempts, Navdeep needs 41.39 or more to move into third (and then hope no one crosses that again)
Athletics Men’s Javelin Throw - F41: correction, the 4th attempt was his best, he had two attempts after that. The fifth attempt was a foul.
Kaushal Shukla: Navdeep is starting to get his act together. A throw of 40.80 is an improvement on his previous throw of 39.97 but he needs a bit more for bronze and a lot more for silver. The gold since Sun Pengxiang’s first throw has looked out of reach for everyone. One attempt left!
Athletics Men’s Javelin Throw - F41: Bit of a delay between 3 and 4 attempts, says Kaushal Shukla. There is pouring rain and it looks the run-up region is being dried a bit. Here’s how the standing looks before Sun’s 4th throw... it is not quite a WR but still longer than what everyone is throwing.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3: BRONZE MEDAL FOR MANOJ SARKAR! What an afternoon. The world No 1 wins gold, the world No 3 takes bronze as India add two more medals. Straight games for Manoj too. (Too bad it was not live!)
A glimpse of Manoj Sarkar in the background as Pramod Bhagat wins GOLD. The Indian world No 3 is close to bronze as well, leads 17-9 in the second game.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, Final, IND 2-0 GBR (corrected): PRAMOD BHAGAT IS THE CHAMPION! A GOLD MEDAL FOR INDIA. The World Champion is now the Paralympic Games champion.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, Final, IND 1-0 GBR: Bhagat two pints away from gold but Bethell has the serve at 17-19.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3 bronze, IND 1-0 JPN: Manoj is leading 14-8.
Kaushal Shukla: Navdeep seemed fairly happy after his third attempt that almost breached the 40 mark. Not enough for a medal but he probably feels he is getting there. Three more attempts to go.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, Final, IND 1-0 GBR: Bhagat makes it a 1-point game at 12-13. Has calmly gone about reducing the deficit. A roar from Bethell as he gets the serve back at 14-12. A brutal rally follows, and a netted forehand from a tired looking Bhagat. Bethell moves ahead again.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3 bronze, IND 1-0 JPN: Manoj’s roars are being heard from the other court and he has a super handy 10-5 lead in the 2nd game.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, Final, IND 1-0 GBR: Bhagat fights back after Bethell’s fight back! A good little run of points for the Indian and it is 8-12. And make that 10-12. Superb.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3 bronze, IND 1-0 JPN: Manoj has a 4-2 lead in the second game.
Kaushal Shukla: Navdeep needs to get his act together as there will be no easy medal in the men’s javelin throw F-41 final. His PB as things stand will be good enough for a silver. And going by the PBs of all the athletes, he should finish on the podium. He has been long way off it though so far.
His third attempt is the best of the night so far but still below 40.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, Final: Bethell has a 9-3 lead. He has the momentum and perhaps, the drift is helping too. And make that a 11-4 lead with a huge roar. This is actually the reverse of what we would expect, the rallies have gotten shorter and Bethell is winning most of them. A tweak in the game plan clearly from the world No 2.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, Final: Bethell fights back, Of course he does. Many a head-to-head three-game battle between these two. The GBR shuttler leads 8-3 in the second game.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3 bronze: Manoj was leading comfortably in this one but suddenly, Fujihara has game point at 20-19! The Indian saves that and wins the game 22-20! Phew, battle that one.
Athletics Men’s Javelin Throw - F41: Some huge throws in the first round from the rest of the field! A new WR has been set for F41. Seems like the rest of the field is competing for two medals, Navdeep doesn’t improve his mark from the first attempt.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, Final: Bhagat battles through some tricky phases but it is eventually a comfortable scoreline.
Bhagat vs Bethell, end of first game
Match / Games Statistics | Game 1 |
---|---|
Longest rally (seconds) | 65 |
Longest rally (strokes) | 53 |
Average rally (seconds) | 19 |
Average rally (strokes) | 13 |
Shuttles used | 8 |
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, Final: Bhagat has 6 game points!
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3 bronze: Manoj continues to build the lead moves ahead 16-12.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, Final: Bhagat had to stop the mini momentum that was building for Bethell, does that from 15-12 to 17-12. A superb rally follows and that goes to Bethell, might have been 56 shots that one. Bhagat leads 18-13 now.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3 bronze: Manoj has the lead at 14-11.
Athletics Men’s Javelin Throw - F41: It is once again raining at the Olympic stadium. Navdeep starts and it is a solid38.59 first attempt.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, Final: Bhagat is doing fantastically, moving Bethell back and forth, dictating the pace. Bethell has the defence to stay in rallies but he is unable to close out rallies.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3 bronze: Manoj has moved into the lead 10-7.
Athletics Men’s Javelin Throw - F41: Navdeep is here for the final, he is first in the throwing order.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, Final: Solid from Bhagat 11-8 at the interval, makes sure he stays ahead in this one. Bethell is making him work hard, the Indian is ready to be patient and stay in the point. He has the better kill shots for sure, it is about timing.
Bhagat vs Bethell, amid-point first game
Match / Games Statistics | Game 1 |
---|---|
Longest rally (seconds) | 46 |
Longest rally (strokes) | 41 |
Average rally (seconds) | 20 |
Average rally (strokes) | 14 |
Shuttles used | 2 |
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, Final: Bhagat closes the gap, makes it 6-6. All even again. Nice run continues for Bhagat. Errors from Bethell. The Indian leads 8-6. Then another superb rally follows, 7-8 Bethell. Another fantastic rally sees good defence from Bhagat for a 9-7 lead.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3 bronze: Manoj has clawed back from 2-5 down to make it 5-5,
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, gold medal match: Bhagat vs Bethell, underway. A 3-2 lead for the Indian in the early exchanges but Bethell goes on a mini-run to make it 5-3. This category typically sees long rallies.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, bronze medal match: Sarkar vs Fujihara. About to start. Updates only for this.
Athletics Men’s Javelin Throw - F41:
SHORT STATURE - SPORT CLASSES T40/F40, T41/F41 Athletes with short stature compete in the sport classes T/F40-41. There are two classes depending on the body height of the athlete and the proportionality of the arms, with athletes in sport class T/F41 being taller than athletes in sport class T/F40.
Athletics Men’s Javelin Throw - F41: The final track and field event featuring an Indian is at 3.40 pm. Navdeep has the PB mark to be well in the mix for a podium finish.
— via Paralympic.org
- SL3 players must play standing. The player could have impairment in one or both legs and poor walking/running balance. (Half court matches, demarcated down the centerline)
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, bronze medal match:
Manoj Sarkar vs Daisuke Fujihara. Simultaneously, away from the TV court, India will also be looking to add a bronze to the tally. The India-Japan battle is one between world No 3 and world No 5. The Indian has a slender 2-1 lead in singles matches between the two shuttlers.
Badminton, Men’s Singles, SL3, GOLD MEDAL MATCH:
Pramod Bhagat vs Daniel Bethell in the final. World No 1 vs World No 2. This is a big match between two of the best players in the world in this category. The head to head is in favour of Pramod Bhagat at 5-2 and the last meeting was in November 2019 (that Bethell won, in fact). This will be a repeat of the 2019 BWF Para World Championships, that Bhagat won in three games 6-21, 21-14, 21-5 in 51 mins. Six of their 7 matches have gone to three games!
BADMINTON: Right, then. Time for two more big matches. Slightly unfortunate that bronze medal matches are being played on non TV courts, could’ve added an extra half session at the start and made sure medal matches are all televised. Not like we would have complained for having to watch more badminton! Well, rookie mistake from someone we suppose.
Hurricane Hannah and Usain Bolt of the Paralympics: Hannah Cockroft and Nick Mayhugh enjoyed yet more golden success on the athletics track.
Britain’s Cockroft won her seventh Paralympics gold while American Mayhugh said he wanted to be the “Usain Bolt of the Paralympics” after claiming his third Tokyo gold.
“Hurricane Hannah” clocked 1min 48.99sec in the T34 800m, obliterating her own Paralympic Games record set in Rio by almost 12 seconds.
“I don’t think it will ever sink in,” Cockroft said of winning her second Tokyo gold to go with her three golds won at Rio 2016 and two from London 2012.
“Not many athletes get the privilege of doing this for 10 years or get to stand on the podium that many times.”
Mayhugh smashed his own world record, set only the day before, to take gold in the men’s T37 200m in 21.91sec.
“I know I’ll never be able to run 9.5 for the 100m, but I want to be the Usain Bolt of the Paralympics,” said the former footballer, who also took gold in the 100m and Friday’s night’s 4x100m universal relay. He won silver in the 400m.
“You set your own limits. You believe in yourself and you set your own barrier and surpass it. Usain Bolt did exactly that with me. He was my greatest inspiration so thank you to him.” (AFP)
Time for a little pause to get our breaths back: On the expected lines for badminton (could easily have been two finalists in SL4) but the shooting result has made it an absolute blockbuster morning for India. Terrific stuff.
Gold: Manish Narwal
Silver: Singhraj Adhana
Gold or silver: Pramod Bhagat
Gold or silver: Krishna Nagar
Gold or silver: Suhas Yathiraj
Badminton: A recap...
- Pramod Bhagat reaches men’s singles SL3 gold medal match
- Suhas Yathiraj reaches men’s singles SL4 medal match
- Krishna Nagar reaches SH6 gold medal match
- Manoj Sarkar, Tarun Dhillon, Pramod Bhagat-Palak Kohli through to bronze medal matches.
- So three medals assured, three more bronze medals possible
Badminton, Mixed Doubles, SL3-SU5, Semi-final: The top seeds win in straight games, but that is a lovely fight from the Indian pair in the second game. Great grit and if they can keep that up, they will have a real shot at bronze against the Japanese pair (also SL3-SU5 like India).
Badminton, Mixed Doubles, SL3-SU5, Semi-final: The Indonesians have turned it around after the interval. Oktila is a delight to watch at the net and Susanto is an entertainer from back court. The have a 16-13 lead, the Indians have the serve back, but only briefly. 18-15 to Indonesians.
Badminton, Mixed Doubles, SL3-SU5, Semi-final: Superb by Bhagat-Kohli in the second game, they lead at the interval by three points. 11-8. Not bad, not bad at all. Bhagat with good play from back-court, Kohli prowling at the net.
Badminton, Mixed Doubles, SL3-SU5, Semi-final: Superb from Bhagat at the back-court and it is 6-6 after the best point of the match. And well, what do we have here, the Indians are in the lead 8-6 with three in a row!
Badminton, Mixed Doubles, SL3-SU5, Semi-final: The Indians are the underdogs here for sure, but would love to improve their scoreline here at the very least. Serves exchanged early on, 2-2.
Badminton, Mixed Doubles, SL3-SU5, Semi-final: That is as comfortable as it could be for the Indonesians. Bhagat-Kohli could not put together any sort of rallies.
Badminton, Mixed Doubles, SL3-SU5, Semi-final: The Indians get the serve back at 3-14 but it is soon 17-3. This game is all but done.
Badminton, Mixed Doubles, SL3-SU5, Semi-final: The top seeds just a bit too good at the moment, but the Indian pair do tend to get better as the match progresses from what little we have seen of them. A 11-2 lead at the mid-game interval.
Badminton, Mixed Doubles, SL3-SU5, Semi-final: Leani-Hary jump into a 4-1 lead.
Badminton, mixed doubles SL3-SU5 semifinal: Alright then, time for one last semifinal for India. Out of the four pairs in SFs, two are SL4-SL4 (full court mobility) and 2 pairs are SL3-SU5: Japan and India (SL3 players play half court). France have won the first semifinal, now it is India vs top seeds Indonesia, the overwhelming favourites and both legends. Irrespective of result, this is some run from Bhagat-Kohli.
Badminton: Mixed semifinals currently underway. France vs Japan. This is followed by Indonesia vs India. France and Indonesia are huge favourites in this category, India and Japan have done brilliantly to get this far with a SL3-SU5 pairing.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SH6, Semi-final IND vs GBR: INTO THE GOLD MEDAL MATCH! And another medal assured for India. (At least 3 from Badminton now and 2 bronze medal matches, with one semifinal in XD to come). Krishna Nagar with a fantastic performance in the semifinal.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SH6, Semi-final IND vs GBR: The commentator must have said “so good!” about a 100 times already. The Indian is leading 18-11.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SH6, Semi-final IND vs GBR: Coombs is giving it all, throwing himself around, but Nagar is moving him from one end of the court to the other. The points that GBR shuttler is getting are also from Nagar’s racket, pretty much. He has the serve at 16-7.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SH6, Semi-final IND vs GBR: Mind you Coombs is the world No 5, is a very accomplished shuttler in this category, has beaten the world No 1 here not long back... but Nagar is controlling this match with almost every swing of his racket. Starts with a 5-0 lead... and it goes up to 11-3 at the break. Dominance!
Badminton, Men’s Singles SH6, Semi-final: Great depth from Nagar on his strokes and he wins the first game 21-10. Just too good for Coombs at this point.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SH6, Semi-final IND vs GBR: Quite comfortably dictating tempo here, is the 2nd seed. The rallies are so beautifully constructed. Massive 18-10 lead.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SH6, Semi-final: Nagar with the 11-6 lead at the interval. Some really good play by the Indian. Looking comfortable.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SH6, Semi-final IND vs GBR: Nice early lead for the Indian. His agility is supposed to be the biggest weapon and he is showing that in the early stages. A 7-3 lead is reduced to 7-5 but he moves ahead 8-5 with a super overheard inside out.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SH6, Semi-final: India’s Krishna Nagar, second seed, will be taking on Krysten Coombs. The match will begin soon. This for short stature. This match should be really good. Coombs came through a stunningly close group, and is the reason his compatriot and top seed Jack Shepard is already out.
A photo to remember!
Zenia D’Cunha: After his bronze in 10m air pistol SH1, Singhraj Adhana had said that he was extremely sad to Manish Narwal not win a medal because the teen is a great shooter & deserved it. Today, both are on podium. Loved this moment between the two!
Zenia D’Cunha: The Asaka Shooting range continues to being cheer...
GOLD – 19-year-old Manish Narwal
SILVER – 39-year-old Singhraj Adhana
After a rollercoaster final!
First medal for the teen, second for the senior in Tokyo, 14 & 15* for India.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: 50m shooting events have the tendency to be a wild ride but wow, that was something! Singhraj started on fire, had a few bad shots in the middle, slipped down, just about hung on at one stage. Manish never seemed quite in for a podium from the start but a sensational finish from him. A 10.8 and 10.5 with his 19th and 20th shot and the youngster right up! What a final for India. Medal No 14 & 15 (not counting the assured baddy ones) and it is officially an epic morning.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: ANOTHER GOLD MEDAL, ANOTHER TEENAGE SHOOTER! Manish Narwal, with a new Paralympic Record, has taken the gold and Singhraj wins the second medal of the Games with a silver. WOW. JUST WOW.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: MAKE THAT 1-2 FOR INDIA! SINGHRAJ WITH A STUNNING 10.7 there to pip the RPC shooter.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: Singhraj has a bad round by his standards and his reaction seemed as if he dropped out of medal positions but the Chinese shooter had a worse shot and it is TWO MEDALS CONFIRMED FOR INDIA!
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: After 19 shots... it is one shot to decide podium! India 3-4 at the moment. But is all close.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: Oh no! Narwal drops to 4th after 18 shots. Two really scores there and when a medal seemed really close he looks set to finish 4th. But Singhraj looks set for his 2nd medal .
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: After the 17th shot, a not so good one by Manish, it is Singhraj 2nd and Narwal 3rd. The Chinese are tied for fourth for the next elimination.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: WOW! And the standings change again... we are down to the top five at the moment and it is a 2-3 for India as the Chinese shooters move down.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: Indians 4-5 at the moment as we get to the top 6 after 14 shots.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: Oh no. The live scores have stopped working so it is difficult to track where the drop happened but Singhraj has slid down and by some distance after 13 shots! Oh dear oh dear.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: Singhraj in fine form! Manish however drops down to 5th.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4: LUCAS MAZUR WINS A THRILLER! WHAT A BATTLE.
Gold medal match: IND vs FRA
Bronze medal match: IND vs INA
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4: 18-17. Tarun has almost caught up!! Another break for Mazur... this is surely not fair on the Indian. Unfortunate it must be said. Mazur once again has two points after that sit down. Three match points.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: Well the official site showed a 6.6 for Singhraj and we thought ‘oh dear’ but what do we know! After 5 shots, he is top. Long way to go.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, Tarun vs Mazur: Tarun makes it 15-17, then 16-18... wow. THIS IS NERVY! What a battle.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: This is a 50m event, so the scores will be a bit up and down... but a 6.6 from Singhraj in the first series is not ideal!
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, Tarun vs Mazur: Tarun has the serve back and at 12-16 and another big rally. He has to tire the Frenchman out! But the top seed shows up four fingers as he nails a return to take a 17-13 lead. Four points from final.
P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 Final Two Indians – Singhraj Adana & Manish Narwal – set to compete in their second final at Tokyo. Singhraj has won a medal already in 10m pistol while the teen is looking for his first
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, Tarun vs Mazur: Three points in a row for Tarun after the interval, he trails 7-11. Can he find some rhythm here? He is a streaky player. Now Mazur is celebrating every point but is also taking many breaks. This is quite a battle. The Frenchman leads 15-10.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 FINAL: About to start... here’s the start list.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4: 11-4 in the decider. Mazur leads. Tarun needs to find a way back into this. Can he?
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinals: SUHAS YATHIRAJ IS INTO THE FINAL!
The 38-year-old world No 3 (and an IAS officer too, in case you hadn’t heard!) will battle for GOLD MEDAL at the Paralympic Games.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinals: Match points for Suhas, Mazur has a 9-3 lead against Tarun in the decider.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinals: Oh dear, slipping away for Tarun. Gets the serve back at 2-7 in the decider. MASSIVE TASK, THIS. Suhas has, meanwhile, taken a 19-14 lead.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinals: Mazur jumps to a 4-1 lead in the decider. Tarun will want to keep it close but it is not happening at the moment. A sizeable French support team in the stands egging the top seed on! On court 3, Suhas has raced to 18-13 and is looking set to reach the final
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4: Tarun takes it into the decider. The match has already gone on for 37 minutes and Mazur is looking exhausted. Tarun looking more fresh in comparison. In the other game at this point, there was an interval in the 2nd game with Suhas leading 11-6 and looking good for a straight-games win.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, Tarun vs Mazur: Six game points for Tarun and one of them is saved after a super rally. Another one saved by a overhead that is netted. 16-20. Eeeks.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, Suhas vs Fredy: It is 9-6 in favour of the Indian in the second game now. Starting to slowly push ahead. Make it 10-6.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, Tarun vs Mazur: Deft! Mazur with a super crosscourt net shot to get the serve back and make it 14-19 soon after. Still on his serve. This is not done yet. The umpire has had a few words with the French shuttler for delaying.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, Tarun vs Mazur: It is a 17-11 lead for Tarun as he quickly gets the serve back... and the next point is a beautiful push to the backcourt from the Indian and the biggest roar yet.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, Suhas vs Fredy: The Indonesian had defeated Tarun in the group match yesterday, remember. He will not give this up without a fight. It is 4-4 in the second game.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, Tarun vs Mazur:The Frenchman on a mini roll now closing the gap to 8-11, and then 9-12! A tremendous rally there that ended with Tarun going for a cute drop that did not work.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinals: Time for a pause in both matches! Tarun has had a superb start to the 2nd game and Mazur is all over the place, trailing 4-11. Mid-game interval there. On Court 3, Suhas has sealed the opening game off his 3rd game point. Solid stuff from the IAS officer!
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, Suhas vs Fredy: You can keep hearing the roars from Suhas in the other court. He has a 19-7 lead there vs. the Indonesian world No 4.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, Tarun vs Mazur: More purposeful start to the second game for Tarun, couple of mini run of points and it is 8-3 for Indian! Playing like the world No 2 now.
Badminton Men’s Singles SL4 semifinals: A roaring Suhas Yathiraj spotted in the background who has a 11-1 lead in the opening game as Tarun Dhillon looks to pick himself up and again vs the world No 1 after dropping the opener.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, Tarun vs Mazur: A battle that went one way and then the other but it is the world No 1 who takes the deserving lead it must be said. Tarun looked better as the game went on but he needs something special to win this.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, Suhas vs Fredy: Good start for the Indian against the world No 4. 5-0 lead in the opener.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal: Tarun keeps fighting back... 15-18 with a lovely smash winner. Mazur seems to be delaying things to affect the Indian’s rhythm. Biggest roar yet from Tarun as he makes it 16-18 but that is followed by a “yaaaar!” as he makes a service error.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal: And an allez! now from Mazur as he takes a 17-13 lead. Pattern.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal: Great determination from Tarun, he has found his rhythm hopefully. 12-13. Within striking distance now. It was 11-6 at one point.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal: In the other semifinal, Suhas Yathiraj takes on world No 4 Fredy Setiawan in a non-TV court. Two big matches simultaneously!
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4 semifinal, IND 5-11 FRA: Mazur with a series of “Jaaaaa!” to take a handy lead into the mid-game interval. Tarun, as we saw yesterday, is not looking at his best. (If he had won his second match, this could have been the final)
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL4: In the other semi-final, Suhas Yathiraj will take on Fredy Setiawan. That will begin soon too.
BADMINTON: Right then, SL4 semifinal and it is No 1 Mazur vs No 2 Tarun (should really have been the final but oh well!) Repeat of the 2019 Basel Worlds final that ended in injury & heartbreak for the Indian
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3: Bethell with a stunning second half — he won 10 off the 11 points against Sarkar after the interval to go through to the final. Pramod Bhagat awaits in the gold medal match for the Brit. For Sarkar, a shot at bronze. Both later today.
Gold medal match: IND vs GBR
Bronze medal match: IND vs JPN
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3: Bethell opening up a gap here. 14-9. Pulling away after the interval.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 Qualification: There we have it the confirmation! TWO Indian shooters through to the final as Singhraj finishes 4th best & Manish Narwal takes 7th spot. Never in doubt. We don’t know what you were worried about, we were completely sure of this. (We kid, we kid) Final at 0845 hrs IST
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3 semifinal: Much better for Sarkar. He trails 9-11 at the interval but this is a tight battle.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 Qualification: SINGHRAJ AND MANISH NARWAL ARE THROUGH TO THE FINAL!
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3 semifinal: Sarkar fighting hard to begin the second game. It is 5-5 at the moment.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 Qualification
Strong finish by Singhraj and he has done enough to reach the final, confirmation shortly as we wait for the top 8. His series: 93, 90, 91, 86, 86, 90
Manish Narwal finishes with a total of 533 after his sixth series. 91, 93, 91, 79, 91, 88. He is 8th for now, but there are a couple of other athletes still shooting & within distance! Nervy wait
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3 semifinal IND 8-21 GBR: That scoreline feels harsh on Manoj as good as Bethell has been! Some terrific rallies, including a 85-shot one... Bethell takes the first game 21-8 in 18 minutes. Average rally length was 14 shots. But Sarkar needs to do more on his service.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3 semifinal IND 6-15 GBR: Daniel Bethell has a 10-point lead at 17-7. Things not going Sarkar’s way. And then has three game points at 20-7.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 Qualification: We are into the 6th and final series of 10 shots for most shooters and Manish, Singhraj are 7th and 8th! NERVES!
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3 semifinal IND 6-15 GBR:: Daniel Bethell takes 8 points in a row before Sarkar finally gets one of his own. The second seed leads by some margin at the moment.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3 semifinal IND 5-11 GBR: Daniel Bethell takes it to the interval after winning a 84-stroke rally, leading 11-5. Sarkar trying hard but not quite being able to break his opponent’s defence yet.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 Qualification:
Manish recovers well from that round of 79 to shoot a 91 and move back into the top 8 but Singhraj has two shots 86s in a row and is out of the top 8.
Manish: 91, 93, 91, 79, 91
Singhraj: 93, 90, 91, 86, 86
Akash: 79, 87, 81, 83, 86
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3 semifinal: Daniel Bethell has taken a 6-3 lead in the early going.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 Qualification:
Oh dear! It was going so well for Manish, even topped standings for a while but he has just shot a series of 79 to drop out of top 8. As does Singhraj with 86. A look at Manish’s series below tells you he definitely didn’t have the best control over his pistol. Gutting, if he misses out after such a good start.
Manish: 91, 93, 91, 79
Singhraj: 93, 90, 91, 86
Akash: 79, 87, 81, 83
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3, semifinal: Will it be all-Indian final? World No 3 Manoj Sarkar vs World No 2 Daniel Bethell coming up right now!
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3, semifinal, IND 21-11 , 21-16 JPN: PRAMOD BHAGAT INTO THE FINAL! The world No 1 and top seed closes the match out in straight games against a batting Fujihara. The first Indian to reach the gold medal match.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3, semifinal, IND 21-11 , 20-16 JPN: Loves the trick shots, does Bhagat and brings out a couple at the end. Not to great effect though, two match points saved.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3, semifinal, IND 21-11 , 20-14 JPN: He does it again, Bhagat pulls away at the business end. Six match points for the Indian.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3, semifinal, IND 21-11 , 16-13 JPN: Fujihara just wouldn’t go away with a battle. Giving it everything to stay within touching distance. Vocalising his energy with every point he wins... average rally down from 13 to 11.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 Qualification: Ouch. Manish Narwal starts his 4th series with a 8 & 7 and his scoring has stopped updating. Might mean equipment trouble. Even though he has the best average score as I type this, it is a point of concern as his shooting seems to have stopped, hope he recovers quickly.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3, semifinal, IND 21-11 , 11-7 JPN: Handy lead for Bhagat as we head into the mid-game interval.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3, semifinal, IND 21-11 , 9-6 JPN: Somewhat similar to what we saw in the first game, Bhagat displaying deft touches to put together a decent run of points and then the gritty Fujihara battles hard to close the gap, brought it down to 6-7 at one point. Good exchanges in the early stages of this second game. The average rally length is 13 in this game so far compared to 9 in the opener.
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 Qualification
Manish & Singhraj, who have already made it to one final, are in fine form in the early stages of this. Among the top few shooters based on average shots so far. (Placings don’t matter at this stage but both are in top 3). Akash continues to struggle though, but a better second series.
Manish: 91, 93, 91
Singhraj: 93, 90
Akash: 79, 87
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3, semifinal, IND 21-11 JPN 13 of the last 16 points in the game (from 8-8 at one stage) went to the Indian and he is looking like the class apart that he is. One game away from the final!
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 Qualification
A great start by Manish and Singhraj in this event ( a mixed gender one) but Akash is struggling and might already be effectively out of the race for the final after a poor series 1.
Manish: 91, 93
Singhraj: 93
Akash: 79
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3, semifinal, IND 19-11 JPN: Bhagat in control now! A lovely dive to retrieve, then a lovely forehand reflex get... looking good.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3, semifinal, IND 14-10 JPN: A 13-9 lead for Bhagat as he reels off a series of points! Fujihara, the world No 5, trying to hang in there at the moment. The Indian’s class is starting to shine through.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3, semifinal, IND 11-8 JPN: The pattern is set for the opening game. Longer rallies, Fujihara seems to have the edge. When Bhagat attacks, the points are short, he has more joy. A battle of contrasting styles this one.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3, semifinal, IND 2-4 JPN: Fujihara opening up a 4-2 lead in the early going: The Japanese has the patience to play long rallies. We saw a 107-shot rally from a match between him and an Indonesian shuttler earlier. Bhagat would want to keep the points as short as possible. Early lead and long rallies for the Japanese.
Para badminton classification:
- WH1 is for players who require a wheelchair to play badminton and usually have an impairment in both their legs and trunk. Players are required to play in a wheelchair in this class. (Half court)
- WH2 is for players who could have an impairment in one or both legs and minimal or no impairment of the trunk. (Half court)
- SL3 players must play standing. The player could have impairment in one or both legs and poor walking/running balance. (Half court)
- SL4 is a second standing class where the player has a lesser impairment compared to Sport Class SL3. The player could have an impairment in one or both legs and a minimal impairment in walking/running balance.
- SU5 is for players with an impairment of the upper limb. The impairment could be on the playing or non-playing hand.
- SH6 is for players who have a short stature.
Badminton, Men’s Singles SL3: It is semi-final time. India’s world No 1 Pramod Bhagat taking on Fujihara Daisuke for a place in the final. The schedule has been such that we have seen more of Fujihara in the main court than Bhagat. Can the top seed make his way through?
Shooting P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 Qualification: Singhraj (bronze medallist in 10m), Manish Narwal (finalist in 10m) and Akash are in action! Six series of 10 shots each.
06.00 am: And then there were two.
Hello all and welcome to our live coverage of the penultimate day from Paralympic Games. This is it, the finish line in sight... big matches lined up... the week started with India’s magnificent Monday and the weekend has been set up by a fabulous Friday. More medals at stake today. Promises to be a cracking one.
India extended their medal tally to 13 on Friday, going past the total number of medals won in their history before the Tokyo edition (12). On Saturday, that count will increase for certain, with a couple of medals at least assured in badminton but given the pedigree of the athletes in action, Indian fans can expect a bit more than that. The day starts with Pramod Bhagat’s SL 3 semifinal as well as shooting where bronze medallist Singhraj returns for another event, and youngster Manish Narwal will also look to impress again.