India’s tryst with medals at the Tokyo Paralympics continued on Saturday, the penultimate day of the quadrennial championship. Indian athletes excelled in badminton and shooting, gaining a yield of two golds, one silver and a lone bronze.
Overall, India stayed at the 26th position with a consolidated medal haul of four golds, seven silvers and six bronzes.
Pramod Bhagat led the charge in badminton, clinching gold in the men’s SL3 category . In the final, Bhagat defeated Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell 21-14, 21-17 during a clash that lasted 45 minutes. With badminton just making its debut in the paralympic circuit, Bhagat also became the maiden champion in this segment.
Meanwhile, India’s Manoj Sarkar secured the bronze in the same men’s SL3 badminton section. Sarkar defeated Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara 22-20, 21-13 in a duel that stretched across 47 minutes.
In shooting, Manish Narwal excelled in the P4 mixed 50m air pistol SH1 competition. The 19-year-old scripted a Paralympic record, clocking 218.2 points and India’s cup of joy brimmed as Singhraj Adhana emerged second-best to win the silver at 216.7 points, while Russian Sergey Malyshev got the bronze.
The Indian contingent has a lot to look forward to on Sunday especially in badminton and shooting. Suhas Yathiraj and Krishna Nagar compete in the badminton men’s singles SL4 and SH6 finals respectively. And in shooting, Sidhartha Babu, Deepak and Avani Lekhara will compete in the R6 - Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1 segment’s qualification rounds.
