Suhas Yathiraj Opens Asian Para Games With Convincing Win
Two-time Paralympic silver medallist Suhas Yathiraj began his Asian Para Games campaign with a dominant straight-games victory over Bangladesh’s Joytu Dhar in the men’s singles SL4 Group E match in Nagoya on Friday.
The Indian shuttler, who won gold at the previous Asian Para Games, defeated Dhar 21-8, 21-11. Suhas, an IAS officer, had also claimed silver medals at the Tokyo and Paris Paralympics.
Suhas, Krishna Nagar Lead India’s Winning Start
Abhijeet Sakhuja also registered a victory in men’s singles SL4, beating Chinese Taipei’s En-chuan Yeh 21-17, 21-12.
In the men’s singles SH6 category, Tokyo Paralympic champion Krishna Nagar defeated Chinese Taipei’s Jia-siang Ling 21-5, 21-4. Sivarajan Solaimalai joined him among the winners, beating the Philippines’ John Cyrus Maclang 21-7, 21-6.
Nagar and Solaimalai later lost their men’s doubles SH6 match against Hong Kong’s Chun yim Yong and Man Kai Chu 10-21, 12-21. Nagar bounced back in mixed doubles, partnering Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan to a 21-7, 21-7 win over Malaysia’s Nurzammiezatul B Mohamad and Muhammad Amin Bin Azmi.
Indian Doubles Pairs Record Mixed Results
Manisha Ramdass and Pramod Bhagat secured a hard-fought 21-16, 19-21, 21-16 win over China’s Lichuan Xiong and Tongtong Li in mixed doubles SL3-SU5.
In women’s doubles SL3-SU5, Mansi and Thulasimathi Murugesan recovered from losing the opening game to defeat Indonesia’s Warining Rahayu and Qonitah Ikhtiar Syakuroh 21-10, 21-12.
However, Manasi Joshi and Ruthick Raghupati lost 15-21, 4-21 to Indonesia’s Khalimatus Sadiyah and Fredy Setiawan in their opening mixed doubles match.
Manasi Joshi Suffers Defeat, Sanjana Kumari Wins
Former world champion Manasi Joshi lost her women’s singles SL3 Group A match against China’s Yuemei Liu 15-21, 21-14, 15-21.
Sanjana Kumari, meanwhile, began her campaign with a commanding 21-4, 21-6 victory over Hong Kong’s Chai Saeyang in the same category.
In men’s singles WH2, Abu Hubaida went down 11-21, 9-21 to China’s Jianpeng Mai, while Prem Kumar Ale defeated Indonesia’s Agung Widodo 18-21, 21-15, 21-16.
India faced further setbacks in wheelchair badminton. Ale and Alphia James lost their mixed doubles WH1-WH2 match against China’s Mai and Menglu Yin 15-21, 9-21. James later suffered an 8-21, 5-21 defeat against China’s Yutong Lu in women’s singles WH2, while Hubaida and Ale lost their men’s doubles match against Saudi Arabia’s Mahdi Almakinah and Essam Buayti 4-21, 2-21.
