Bhagat enter semis; Suhas, Krishna, Tarun also win, mixed day for Kohli
LUCKNOW: Ace para shuttler Pramod Bhagat was emotional as well as confident last week as he left Lucknow for Tokyo, the five-time world champion (including at the last edition) finally getting a chance at the Paralympics, where badminton was making its debut.
“It’s the biggest-ever opportunity of my life in sport, and I am confident of a gold medal,” he had said at the Gaurav Khanna Excellia Badminton Academy here.
He took a step in that direction on Thursday when he beat Ukraine’s Oleksandr Chyrkov 21-12, 21-9 in the SL3 category (lower limb impairment) to book a place in the semi-finals.
“I was sure about Bhagat’s success and it’s yet another step forward towards his goldmedal mission at the Games,” coach Gaurav Khanna said.
Bhagat, who had a thrilling 2-1 win against compatriot Manoj Sarkar on Wednesday, was on target from the start. He won five consecutive points to take a nine-point lead in the first game, leaving Chyrkov gasping for a response to Bhagat’s sharp returns to the edges.
Things didn’t change much in the second game as Bhagat continued to dominate, winning it 21-9. The match lasted 26 minutes.
“I was in the groove today and played really well. Oleksandr Chyrkov is a good player and played some good strokes in the match. I am very happy that I have reached the semi-finals,” Bhagat said on Thursday.
“Things are going to be tough from here as the knock out stages start. My focus is on one match at a time and also the last league game of the mixed doubles which is a do-or-die situation for us,” added Bhagat, who along with Kohli will play Siripong Teamarrom and Nipada Saensupa in mixed doubles class SL3-SU5 on Friday.
India’s other badminton players tasted success too on Thursday. After facing three defeats at the Games, 19-yearold Palak Kohli won her first match in the women’s SU5 Group (upper limb impairment), defeating Turkey’s Zahra Balgar 21-12, 21-18.
In the SH6 category Krishna Nagar beat Malaysian Didin Taresoh 22-20, 21-10 in the SH6 (short stature) event to also reach the semis. Noida’s district magistrate Suhas Yathiraj defeated Germany’s JN Pott 21-9, 21-3 in the SL4 (severe lower limb impairment) category, and Tarun Dhillon defeated Thailand’s shuttler S Teamarrom 21-7, 21-13 in the same category in their opening encounters.
Before winning her singles match on Thursday, Kohli, while pairing with Parul Parmar, lost in the women’s doubles to the Chinese duo of Cheng Hefang and Ma Huihui 7-21, 5-21. Parmar also lost to Hefang 8-21, 2-21 in her women’s singles SL4 match. Parmar then pushed Germany’s Katrin Seibert later in the day to three games 21-23, 21-19, 15-21 in a battle between two veterans.