Indian para-shuttlers dazzled at the recently concluded Japan Para-Badminton International 2024 (October 22-27) in Tokyo, capturing an impressive 24 medals, including six gold, nine silver, and six bronze.
Sivarajan Solaimalai won the men’s singles SH6 category gold medal. He defeated Chun Yim Wong of Hong Kong in straight games (21-16, 21-16) in the summit clash.
Star para-shuttler Manisha Ramadass, on the other hand, clinched the SU5 women’s singles gold beating Japanese Mamiko Toyoda 21-12, 21-18 in the final.
In the SL4 men’s singles category, India achieved a clean sweep with Sukant Kadam winning the title beating his fellow Indian Tarun. Naveen Sivakumar and Surya Kant won the bronze medals.
Sukant defeated Tarun 21-12, 21-10 to win the title.
Nitesh Kumar stunned
In the SL3 men’s singles final, Paris Paralympics gold medallist Nitesh Kumar was stunned by Fujihara Daisuke of Japan in a thrilling three-game contest, 16-21, 21-18, 19-21. Dilli Jagadesh and Umesh Kumar won the bronze medals in this category.
In the SU5 men’s singles final, Hardik Makkar lost to Taiyo 5-21, 19-21 as Ruthick won a bronze medal.
Neeraj, meanwhile, went down to Coraline Bergeron of France in the women’s singles SL3 category final.
Three gold in doubles categories
Despite the setback in the SU5 men’s singles final, Hardik showcased resilience by winning the gold medal in the SU5 men’s doubles final by pairing up with Ruthick Ragupathi. They defeated the Indo-Polish duo of Dev Rathi and Bartlomiej Mroz in the final.
India also swept the men’s doubles event in the SL4 and WD SL3 – SU5 categories.
Umesh Vikram Kumar and Surya Kant Yadav won the title, as they beat Sukant Kadama and Dinesh Rajaiah 21-5, 20-22, 21-16.
Dep Ranjan Bisoyee-Dillaswar Rao Gadela and Bittu Kumar-Pranay Seth bagged the bronze medals.
Meanwhile, in the SL3-SU5 mixed doubles final, India’s Surya Kant Yadav and Neeraj made a runner-up finish as they lost to Taiyo Imai and Noriko Ito 4-21, 10-21.
In the WH1-WH2 mixed doubles final, the India duo of Prem Kumar and Alphia James lost to Jaime Aranguiz and Man Kei To 21-11, 18-21, 16-21. In the men’s doubles WH1-WH2 category, Prem Kumar and Abu Hubaida won the bronze medal.
Abu, meanwhile, won a bronze medal in the WH1-WH2 mixed doubles category pairing up with Switzerland’s Cynthia Mathez.
In the D SH6 category, Sudarsan Saravanakumar Mutusamy and Sivarajan Solaimalai won the gold medal.