Thailand Para-Badminton International 2018: Parul Parmar wins title; Pramod Bhagat beats Manoj Sarkar in final

Indian para shuttlers capped a brilliant week with two titles and a total of six medals at the Thailand Para-Badminton International 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday. Parul Dalsukhbhai Parmar, the top seed in the women’s singles SL3 category, needed to show her guts and resilience to stave off the challenge of the second seed and local hope, Wannaphatdee Kamtam 24-22, 17-21, 23-21. The gruelling final lasted 45 minutes.

In the men’s singles SL3 category, the Indian contingent won both the gold and the silver medal. The 3/4th seeded Pramod Bhagat edged the top seed Manoj Sarkar 21-18 in a close first game. Emboldened by that show, he completely ran away with the second game as he gave no chance to his heavily-favoured compatriot before completing a 21-18, 21-9 win in just 26 minutes.

The former para world champion and Arjuna awardee Parul Parmar, who got a bye in the first round as the top seed, had to fight her way to the gold medal. Even in the semi-finals, she conceded a game before rebounding for a 21-8, 17-21, 21-11 win over Thailand’s Darunee Henpraiwan.

Apart from them, India also won a host of bronze medals from this tournament, two of which were in singles.

In women’s singles SL3 section, Manasi Girishchandra Joshi was outplayed 6-21, 8-21 by the second seeded Kamtam of Thailand in the semi-finals and had to settle for the bronze. In men’s singles SS6, Naga Krishna fought hard in the semi-finals before going down 18-21, 15-21 to the 3/4th seed Chun Yim Wong of Hong Kong.

Mark Joseph Dharmai and Raja Magotra were the only medal winners from doubles. The third seeded pair in the men’s doubles SS6 category was beaten 10-21, 8-21 by the second seeds Man Kai Chu and Chun Yim Wong of Hong Kong in just 21 minutes.