Pramod Bhagat (Photo IPC)
Indian stars dominated the Japan Para Badminton International, smashing down nine titles.
Pramod Bhagat lead the charge by securing three gold medals in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.Tokyo Paralympic champion Krishna Nagar followed with two golds, winning both in singles and mixed doubles in the SH6 category.
In the SL3 singles final, Bhagat staged a remarkable comeback after losing the opening set to Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara. Despite trailing 17-21 in the first and facing a 16-19 deficit in the second, Pramod showed nerves of steel to level the match and then dominated the decider with a flawless display to win 17-21, 21-19, 21-10.
In men’s doubles, Bhagat teamed up with Sukant Kadam to defeat compatriots Jagadesh Dilli-Naveen Sivakumar 21-17, 18-21, 21-16 in a hard-fought final.
He completed his golden hat-trick by clinching the mixed doubles SL4-SU5 title with Manisha Ramdass, overcoming fellow Indians Nitesh Kumar-Thulasimathi Murugesan 21-19, 21-19 in a close 29-minute contest.
Nagar won the SH6 men’s singles and SH6 mixed doubles. In the singles final, he defeated American Miles Krajewski in straight sets. After trailing 11-17 in the first, he mounted a spirited comeback to take the set 22-20 before comfortably closing the second 21-13. Teaming up with Nithya Sre, Krishna added another gold to his tally in mixed doubles. They pair topped the single round robin competition in the category.
Malaysia’s Paralympic cmapion Cheah Like Hou was also a double winner. He captured his first title of the day, living up to his top-seed billing, edging out Taiwan’s Fang Jen-Yu 21-14, 19-21, 21-18 in 66 minutes.
Liek Hou teamed up with Mohamad Faris Ahmad Azri to pull off an upset over India’s top seeds Hardik Makkar-Ruthick Ragupathi, 23-21, 21-13, in 40 minutes, securing his second crown of the tournament.
Meanwhile at the Korean Masters, eight seeded Kim Jae Hyeon-Jeong Na Eun of Korea denied third seeds Jimmy Wong-Lai Pei Jing of Malaysia 24-22, 21-18to claim the mixed doubles titles.
Both the top seeds in the men’s and women’s singles lived up to their top billing.
Singapore’s Jason The Ji Heng gunned down Japan’s Yudai Okimoto 21-14, 21-15 in the men’s singles final while Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Pin-Chian clinched the women’s singles title defeating Nguyen Thuy Linh 21-16, 21-15.
JAPAN PARA BADMINTON INTERNATIONAL FINAL RESULTS
MEN’S SINGLES
SH6: Krishna Nagar (Ind) bt Miles Krajewski (USA) 22-20, 21-13
SL3: Pramod Bhagat (Ind) bt Daisuke Fujihara (Jpn) 17-21, 21-19, 21-10
SL4: [2] Naveen Sivakumar (Ind) bt [1] Sukant Kadam (Ind) 21-14, 21-14
SU5: [1]Cheah Like Hou (Mas) bt Fang Jen-yu (Tpe) 21-14, 19-21, 21-18
WH1: [1]Muhammad Ikhwan Ramli (Mas) bt Shoichiro Eguychi (Jpn) 21-13, 21-12
WH2: [1] Daiki Kajiwara bt [2] Rick Cornell Hellmann 21-6, 21-6
MEN’S DOUBLES
SH6 (Round Robin)
Champion: Nilton Quispe Ignacio-Hector Jesus Salva Tunque (Per)
Runners-up: Anthony Vibil Hay-Emilien Langelier (Canada)
SL3-SL4: [2] Pramod Bhagat-Sukant Kadam (Ind) bt [1] Jagadesh Dilli-Naveen Sivakumar (Ind) 21-17, 18-21, 21-16
SU5: Mohamad Faris Ahmad Azri-Cheah Like Hou (Mas) bt [1] Hardik Makkar-Ruthick Ragupathi (Ind) 23-21, 21-13
WH1-WH2: Daiki Kajiwara-Keita Nishimura (Jpn) bt Noor Azwan Noorlan-Muhammad Ikhwan Ramli (Mas) 21-8, 21-14
WOMEN’S SINGLES
SH6: Nithya Ser Sumathy Sivan (Ind) bt Rubi Milagros Fernandez (Per) 21-16, 21-9
SL3: Shino Kawai (Jpn) bt Mandeep Kaur (Ind) 21-2, 21-0
SU5: Thulasimathi Murugesan (Ind) bt [1] Manisha Ramadass 21-15, 21-15
WH1: [1] Sarina Satomi (Jpn) Cynthia Mathez (Sui) 21-8, 21-5
WH2: Xu Tingting (Chn) bt Pilar Jauregui (Per) 21-8, 21-15
WOMEN’S DOUBLES
SH6 (Round Robin)
Champion: Choi Wing Kei-Rubi Milagros Fernandez (Hkg-Per)
Runners-up: Cai Yi-lin-Wu Yu-yen (Tpe)
SL3-SU5 (Round Robin)
Champion: Manasi Girischandra Joshi-Tulasimathi Murugesan (Ind)
Runners-up: Oksana Kozyna-Diana Rojas Golac (Ukr-Per)
WH1-WH2 (Round Robin)
Champion: To Man Kei-Xu Tingting (Ger-Chn)
Runners-up: Hu Guang Chiou-Yang I-chen (Tpe)
MIXED DOUBLES
SL3-SU5: Pramod Bhagat-Manisha Ramadass (Ind) bt Kumar Nithesh-Thulasimathi Murugesan (Ind) 21-19, 21-19
WH1-WH2: Rick Cornell Hellmann-Cynthia Mathez (Ger-Sui) bt [2] Ong Yu-yu-Yang I-Chen (Tpe) 21-12, 21-19
SH6 (Round robin)
Champion: Nagar Krishna-Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan (Ind)
Runners-up: Wong Chun Yim-Choi Wing Kei (Hkg)
KOREA MASTERS FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: [1] Jason The Ji Heng (Sgp) bt Yudai Okimoto (Jpn) 21-14, 21-15
Men’s doubles: [6] Lee Jongmin-Wang Chan (Tpe) bt Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin (Ina) 16-21, 21-16, 21-6
Women’s singles: [1] Chiu Pin-Chian (Tpe) bt Nguyen Thuy Linh (Vie) 21-16, 21-15
Women’s doubles: [6] Hinata Suzuki-Nao Yamakita (Jpn) bt Kim So Yeong-Lee Seo Jin (Kor) 21-18, 25-23
Mixed doubles: [8] Kim Jae Hyeon-Jeong Na Eun (Kor) bt [3] Jimmy Wong-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) 24-22, 21-18
