Pramod Bhagat wins India’s fourth gold medal in the Tokyo paralympics. With this win, he becomes the first ever Indian player to win gold medal in the paralympics in badminton. Manoj Sarkar clinches bronze medal in the same event.
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| Left side Pramod Bhagat playing shot and right side Manoj Sarkar hitting shuttlecock (Photo:-Twitter) |
The world no.1 para badminton player Pramod Bhagat wins gold medal in men’s singles SL3 class. It is India’s fourth gold medal in the Tokyo paralympics. In the same event, Manoj Sarkar clinches bronze medal.
It’s official Pramod Bhagat wins first ever GOLD for India in the first ever edition of #ParaBadminton at #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/J4zgwwMmu2
— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) September 4, 2021
33 year old Pramod Bhagat beats Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell in the straight game 21-14, 21-17 lasted 45 minutes. With this win, he becomes the first ever Indian player to win gold medal in the paralympics in badminton. In the semi-final, he had beaten the Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara.
Pramod Bhagat has won the hearts of the entire nation. He is a Champion, whose success will motivate millions. He showed remarkable resilience & determination. Congratulations to him for winning the Gold in Badminton. Best wishes to him for his future endeavours. @PramodBhagat83
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 4, 2021
In the SL3 classification, players with lower limb impairment are allowed to compete.
When Pramod was five years old, he developed a defect on his left leg. At the age of 13, he went to watch badminton and was fascinated with the game. In the next two years, he did a lot of hard-work, learnt each and every thing about badminton. At the age of 15, he played his first tournament in the normal category.
Pramod is one of the best para shuttlers of India who have 45 international medals and he is also the asian champion. In 2019, he received the Arjuna award in India and also the Biju Patnaik award for excellence in sports in badminton.
On the other hand, 31 year old India’s Manoj Sarkar clinches bronze medal in the same event. In the bronze medal match, he beats Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara in the straight game 22-20 and 21-13.
Overjoyed by @manojsarkar07’s wonderful performance. Congrats to him for bringing home the prestigious Bronze Medal in badminton. Wishing in the very best for the times ahead. #Paralympics #Praise4Para
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 4, 2021
Manoj belongs to Rudrapur, Uttarakhand in India. His right leg was affected after he contracted polio at the age of one. He had started playing badminton at the age of 5.
In the semi-final, Manoj faced defeat from second seed Daniel Bethell 8-21, 10-21. Manoj Sarkar won gold medal in the SL3 singles at the 2016 Asian championship in Beijing. He received Arjuna award in 2018.