(Paralympic news) Para-Shuttler Manoj Sarkar has won the bronze medal in the badminton men's singles SL3 in Tokyo after defeating Daisuke Fujihara from japan in straight sets.

Sarkar started his campaign with a 2-1 loss to fellow countryman Pramod Bhagat. He came back with a 2-0 win over Uruguay's Oleksandr Chyrkov to qualify for the Semi-finals. In the Semi-finals Sarkar fell short against Daniel Bethell as he lost straight sets 21-8 and 21-10.

The first set was incredibly tight and went on for 27 minutes. The Indian had a 5 point lead at one point he ended up winning 22-20. In the 2nd set Sarkar dominated the court winning 21-13 to secure the Bronze medal. The win confirmed India's record 17th medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

Also read: Manish Narwal and Singhraj win Gold and Silver medal at the Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 final at the Tokyo Paralympics
 

Tokyo, Sep 3 (Paralympics news)Live updates: India's Pramod Bhagat and his partner Palak Kohli qualified for the mixed doubles semifinals, while three singles players, including Noida District Magistrate Suhas Yathiraj, also made the last-four stage to continue a rampaging run at the Paralympics badminton competition here on Friday.

Bhagat, who had qualified for the men's singles SL3 event on Thursday, and Kohli beat Thailand's Siripong teamarrom and Nipada Saensupa 21-15 21-19 in a 29-minute clash to finish second in group B.

In men's singles, Suhas, Tarun Dhillon and Manoj Sarkar also made it to the semifinals on a fruitful day for India.

In SL4 class, Suhas, a world number 3, took 19 minutes to get rid of Indonesia's Hary Susanto 21-6 21-12 in group A, while Tarun, seeded second, recovered from a mid-game slump to outwit Korea's Shin Kyung Hwan 21-18 15-21 21-17 in a group B match.

Suhas will face France's top seed Lucas Mazur, while Tarun will cross swords with Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan later in the day.

In SL classification, persons with standing/lower limb impairment/severe are allowed to compete, while SU refers to athletes with upper limb impairment.

With two wins out of three matches so far in their respective groups, both Suhas and Tarun have qualified for semifinals and might face-off in the knockout stage.

Suhas has an impairment in one of his ankles, while Tarun has restricted knee movement following a severe injury that he suffered at the age of eight.

In SL3 class, Manoj secured a 21-16 21-9 victory over Ukraine's Oleksandr Chyrkov to make it to the knockout stage after finishing at the second spot in group A behind world no.1 Bhagat.

Also read: Paralympics: World number 1 Pramod Bhagat wins and enters the semifinals, mixed day for Kohli

The 31-year-old, who had contracted polio at one, suffered a loss to Bhagat in his opening match.

Earlier, Palak, 19, and Parul Parmar, 48, suffered their second successive loss in women's doubles SL3-SU5 group A, going down 12-21 20-22 to French pair of Lenaig Morin and Faustine Noel.

While Suhas hardly broke any sweat during his contest, Tarun had to toil hard to edge out Hwan, who recovered from an opening game reversal to grab the second game. 

News source: PTI

Tokyo, Sep 2 (Paralympics news) World No.1 Pramod Bhagat sailed into the men's singles semifinals after beating Ukraine's Oleksandr Chyrkov in his second group A match of the Tokyo Paralympics badminton event here on Thursday as the country's shuttlers expectedly produced strong performances.

The 33-year-old, also a reigning world champion, saw off Chyrkob 21-12 21-9 in 26 minutes to top his group and enter the last four in class SL3.

"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.

"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." Bhagat and Palak Kohli will play Siripong Teamarrom and Nipada Saensupa in mixed doubles class SL3-SU5 on Friday.

Other Indian shuttlers, including Suhas Yathiraj, Tarun Dhillon and Krishna Nagar also had a good day in office as they opened their men's singles campaign impressively.

While Suhas and Tarun notched up easy victories over Germany's Jan Niklas Pott and Thailand's Siripong Teamarrom in SL4 class respectively, second seed Krishna outwitted Malaysia's Taresoh Didin in SH6 class.

Young Palak also overcame Turkey's Zehra Baglar in her second women's singles match of group A.

The 38-year-old Suhas took just 19 minutes to see off Pott 21-9 21-3 in a lopsided group A clash, while Tarun, 27, too didn't break a sweat, beating Teamarrom 21-7 21-13 in a group B match that lasted 23 minutes.

Krishna then prevailed 22-20 21-10 over Didin in a 33-minute group B match.

While Suhas will face Indonesia's Hary Susanto and then France's top seed Lucas Mazur on Friday, second seeded Tarun will be up against Korea's Shin Kyung Hwan and Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan.

The 22-year-old Krishna will take on Brazil's Vitor Goncalves Tavares on Friday.

Suhas, who has an impairment in one of his ankles, has been at the forefront in the fight against COVID-19 menace as the district magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh.

Tarun, on the other hand, had sustained a severe knee injury while playing football at the age of eight, which resulted in restricted knee movement. He is the current world no.2 and a former two-time world champion.

Krishna, who has a short-stature impairment, is the world no 2 in SH6. He has won bronze and silver at 2019 World Championships in singles and doubles.

In SL classification, persons with standing/lower limb impairment/severe are allowed to compete, while SU refers to athletes with upper limb impairment.

In women's singles class SU5 class, Kohli beat Zehra 21-12 21-18 in 27 minutes. She had lost her opening match to Japan's Ayako Suzuki.

Earlier in the day, the 19-year-old Kohli and her partner Parul Parmar, 48, went down 7-21 5-21 to second seeded Chinese pair of Cheng Hefang and Ma Huihui in a group B women's doubles SL3-SU5 class match.

The Indian pair will square off against the French duo of Lenaig Morin and Faustine Noel on Friday.

Parmar, who competes in SL3 class, was no match for China's Cheng Hefang, losing 8-21 2-21 in 18 minutes in a women's singles group D match at the Yoyogi national stadium here.

Also read: India’s Tarun Dhillon defeats Thailand’s Teamarrom Siripong at the Tokyo Paralympics

Parmar will meet Germany's Katrin Seibert later in the day.

Suhas, who had qualified after the game's governing body BWF granted bipartite quotas to India, said he is looking forward to his match against top seed and title favourite Mazur on Friday.

"We have gone head-to-head on the circuit running up to the Paralympics and I have lost some and won some against him. It will be a good challenge," he said.

"Because of his height, his strokes come from a certain depth which generally you are not used to, but I have trained specifically for that. I am sure he will also specifically train for me." Suhas said he has specifically trained for his match against Mazur.

"My coach used to stand on a chair. I had to be mobile. My coach first used to give the shuttle to one position, and then another. A real match is different, but you do the best that you can," he said.

Badminton is making its debut at the Paralympics this year. 

News source: PTI