Pramod Bhagat has won the fourth gold medal for India at the Tokyo Paralympics by winning the badminton men’s singles SL3 event. While compatriot Manoj Sarkar wins the bronze medal.
He won the gold medal after beating Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell 21-14, 21-17 in the finals match. While Bhagat’s compatriot Manoj Sarkar won the bronze medal in the same event after beating Daisuke Fujihara 22-20, 21-13.
Bhagat had been playing really well in his earlier rounds wherein he won four matches while only dropping one game, against compatriot Sarkar in his opening match, on the way to the final.
He had secured a 21-11, 21-16 win over Japan’s Fujihara in the first men’s singles SL3 class semifinal, which lasted 36 minutes.
With only half of the court being used in the SL3 classification, which is for persons with standing/lower limb impairment, Bhagat and Fujihara engaged in a lot of long rallies with Bhagat coming up on top, most of the time which led him to advance to the finals.
In the finals, Bhagat was facing the world number 2, Daniel Bethell, from Great Britain. The match started on an even note with both the players exchanging points before Bethell opened up a 6-3 lead. Pramod Bhagat soon pulled up his socks to close off the first game 21-14, while winning the second game with a close score of 21-17. In the finals, Bhagat won the first game in 21 minutes and the second in 24 minutes respectively.
While in the bronze medal match, Manoj Sarkar won the match after beating Daisuke Fujihara 22-20,21-13 with each game lasting 22 and 19 minutes respectively.
The 33-year-old Bhagat has scripted history by becoming the first Indian ever to win a badminton gold at the Paralympics.
This takes the medal tally for India at a total of 17 medals at the Tokyo Paralympics having won four golds, seven silvers and six bronze till now.