Nitesh, Naveen take men's singles golds; Thulasimathi and Manasi win women's doubles

The Asian Para Games badminton competition reached a decisive stage in Nagoya on Friday, with Indian shuttlers competing across several categories. The results added to India's medal tally in para-badminton at the continental event held in Japan.

Nitesh Kumar secured gold in the men's singles SL3 category by beating compatriot Pramod Bhagat 21-18, 21-16. The match featured two Paralympic gold medallists. Nitesh said, "Very happy to win the Asian Games gold medal. Last time I was close; I was leading 19-16 in the third set, and then I lost. So this time, winning it and again winning in two sets against Pramod is, of course, very special, and I think it's one of the rarest of the rare things to see."

Naveen Sivakumar claimed the men's singles SL4 gold after defeating Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan 21-9, 21-17. The contest lasted 36 minutes.

Thulasimathi Murugesan won silver in women's singles SU5 after losing 18-21, 11-21 to China's Yang Qiuxia in the women's singles SU5 final at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium.

Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan finished with silver in the women's singles SH6 category after falling 12-21, 13-21 to China's Li Fengmei.

India's campaign also saw Nitesh Kumar and Thulasimathi Murugesan win silver in mixed doubles after losing 21-11, 19-21, 14-21 to Indonesia's Leani Ratri Oktila and Hikmat Ramdani.

The badminton programme continues with remaining finals and medal ceremonies scheduled across the competition days in Nagoya.

Related on Apex Sports News

• India takes men's doubles gold and women's doubles silver in archery

• Thulasimathi-Nitesh reach mixed doubles final at Asian Para Games

• Bhagat and Nitesh reach SL3 semifinals at Asian Para Games

Sources

• Sportstar

• thehindu.com

• Photo: Wikisquack, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)