World champion Pramod Bhagat and Paralympic gold-winner Kumar Nitesh assured themselves of medals at the Asian Para Games by advancing to the men’s singles SL3 semifinals as Indian badminton players produced a strong performance to secure multiple medals here on Tuesday.
Bhagat, who will be on the podium for a fifth successive Para Asiad, defeated Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara 21-12 21-10 in his quarterfinal match at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium. He will face Korea’s Lee Seunghu in the semifinals on Thursday.
Nitesh got the better of compatriot Vikram Kumar 21-8, 21-8 to make the last four, where he will square off against Indonesia’s Al Muh Imran. If the two go on to win their respective semifinals, it will be an all-Indian final in SL3, which covers athletes with lower-limb impairments that lead to poor walking or running balance. The Bhagat Pramod also combined with Manisha Ramdass to enter the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 semifinals. Krishna Nagar and Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan also moved to the semifinals of the SH6 classification. Nagar and Nithya defeated the Chinese Taipei duo of Wu Yu-yen and Lin Jia-siang 21-15, 21-10 to finish second in Group A and qualify for the semifinals in the SH6 class, which is designated for athletes with short stature caused by conditions such as achondroplasia or other genetic variations.
Bhagat and Ramdass, meanwhile, defeated Thailand’s Siripong Teamarrom and Chanida Srinavakul 21-15, 21-14 in the SL3-SU5 quarterfinals. Nitesh and Thulasimathi Murugesan are also assured of a medal as they have got a bye into the semifinals. In mixed doubles SL3-SU5, pairs combine athletes from these two classifications. The SH6 classification covers players with short stature. The other medals that were secured by India included women’s singles SL3, where Sanjana Kumari defeated China’s Liu Yuemei 21-19 21-12 to enter the semifinals. However, in men’s singles SH6, Thailand’s Meechai Natthapong defeated former Paralympic gold-medallist Nagar, 21-15 19-21 21-17. In men’s singles SL4, Abhijeet Sakhuja defeated China’s Chen Pengfei 21-8 21-12 to enter the quarterfinals. Sakhuja will fight it out against compatriot Surya Kant Yadav, who got a bye into the quarters to be held on Wednesday.
Joining him was defending champion Suhas LY, who sailed past Thailand’s Teamarrom Siripong 21-5, 21-7. The two-time Paralympic silver-medallist will take on Korea’s Cho Nadan.