World Championship bronze medallist Manoj Sarkar clinched his first singles title of the season as India’s Para Badminton stars continued their good run of form winning 13 medals at the Thailand International Para Badminton Championships in Bangkok on Saturday.
Sarkar was declared the men’s singles SL3 winner after World no. 1 and fellow Indian shuttler Pramod Bhagat retired midway in the first game at 9-11 due to discomfort in his ankle and back.
Later, Sarkar paired up with Bhagat for the men’s doubles final but went down against local pair Mongkhon Bunsun and Siripong Teamarrom 16-21, 21-8, 14-21 in 37 minutes.
“I am happy to get my first Singles gold this season. But honestly speaking, I wasn’t satisfied to win it this way. I wanted to play and win. Pramod Bhaiya wasn’t feeling comfortable to move so had to retire. In the doubles too, the result wasn’t in our favour as he wasn’t feeling well. But this is part of game,” Manoj was quoted as saying in the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) release.
Sarkar, who has three World Championships titles in doubles, wants to “focus on his recovery and temperament” on the road to Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
In contrast, second seed Krishna Nagar had to survive a second game scare from Hong Kong’s Chu Man Kai before winning 21-17, 18-21, 21-17 in the men’s singles SS6 final.
Nagar and his partner Raja Maghotra, however, fell short in the doubles final against Hong Kong’s Man Kai and Wong Chun Yim and lost 12-21, 14-21.
In women’s competition, top seeded Parul Parmar was back to winning ways as she defeated Turkey’s Halime Yildiz 21-12, 21-8 for the women’s SL3 title.
India’s Para Badminton coach Gaurav Khanna was content with the team’s performance and said: “It was a historic event for us as Indian team fielded 60 players. I think it’s for the first that in the history of BWF and IPC that any country has entered with this no. of players in one international meet.
“I feel proud that India has this big numbers of international Para badminton players. We are at advance stage in the road to Tokyo 2020 qualification points, so every tournament is important. I am happy that our Tokyo 2020 prospects and hopefuls are performing to our expectations,” he was quoted as saying in the release.
Among others, Hong Kong’s Chan Ho Yuen beat Korean top seed Kim Jungjun 21-19, 21-17 in men’s singles WH2, while France’s top player Lucas Mazur clinched twin titles in men’s singles SL4 and mixed doubles SL3-SU5. Elsewhere, the final day was dominated by players from Japan and the hosts Thailand who clinched four gold medals each.
India’s Medals Tally
GOLD Medals
Manoj Sarkar (MS SL3), Krishna Nagar (MS SS6), Parul Parmar (WS SL3)
SILVER Medals
Abu Hubaida (WH1-WH2 XD), Pramod Bhagat (MS SL3), Raja Maghotra & Krishna Nagar (MD SS6), Manoj Sarkar & Pramod Bhagat (MD SL3-SL4)
BRONZE Medals
Sukant Kadam (MS SL4), Suhas L. Y. (MS SL4), Rakesh Pandey & Rajkumar (MD SU5), Vikram Kumar & Suhas L Y MD (SL3-SL4), Rajkumar & Parul Parmar (XD SL3-SU5), Sanjeev Kumar (XD WH1-WH2)