Double delight for Bhagat at Thailand Para-Badminton International tournament

Pramod Bhagat (Pic: @pramodbhagat/Twitter)

Tokyo Paralympic champion Pramod Bhagat capped off his impressive run with two gold medals at the Thailand Para-Badminton International tournament on Sunday.

Pramod defeated England's Daniel Bethell in the men's singles SL3 final to secure gold before pairing up with fellow Indian Sukant Kadam to claim the yellow metal in the men's doubles SL3-SL4 category.

Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj emerged as champion in SL4 category after beating fellow Indian Sukant 21-14 17-21 21-11 in the men's singles final.

In women's singles, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan and Thulasimathi Murugesan signed off with silver medals in SH6 and SU5 class respectively.

In the SL3 singles final, Pramod had won the opening game 21-18 when Daniel decided to retire because of an injury.

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In the doubles category final, Pramod and Sukant won the gold medal by defeating compatriot Nitesh Kumar and Tarun 18-21 21-14 21-19 in a keenly contested game.

"I am happy with my performance in the tournament. I was playing well and was implementing everything I had trained and planned. I hope Daniel recovers soon as it is always fun facing him as he gets the best out of me. In the doubles Nitesh and Tarun pushed up and I am happy the way we responded and finished the match," Pramod said in a press release.

Earlier, Bhagat won all the league games and also defeated Ukraine's Oleksandr Chyrkov in straight sets in the quarter-finals of the SL-3 category 21-15, 22-20. In the semis, the Padma Shri awardee shuttler defeated Japan's Daisuke Fujihara 21-12, 21-19. On the other hand, his compatriot Sukant also showcased his brilliant form by winning all his singles league matches. He defeated India's Nilesh Balu Gaikwad 21-18, 18-21, 21-15 in the quarters and will face France's Lucas Mazur in the semi-finals.

(With PTI inputs)