Pramod vs Nitesh in SL3 final; Thulasimathi-Nitesh, Naveen also reach finals as India add 5 medals

Nagoya: India were assured of a top-two finish in men's singles SL3 after Pramod Bhagat produced a valiant effort to see off Korea's Lee Seunghu in a marathon three-game semifinal, setting up a summit clash with compatriot Nitesh Kumar at the Asian Para Games here on Thursday.

The 38-year-old, a six-time world champion and Tokyo Paralympic gold medallist, showcased his fitness and temperament as he survived a marathon 2-hour-and-9-minute battle to beat Lee 16-21, 21-18, 21-17.

Earlier, Paris Paralympic champion Nitesh Kumar put himself in contention for two gold medals after reaching the finals of men's singles SL3 and mixed doubles SL3-SU5, while Naveen Sivakumar advanced to the men's singles SL4 final on a good day for Indian para-shuttlers.

Nitesh stormed into the summit clash, defeating Indonesia's M Imran 21-19, 21-16 in 52 minutes.

Earlier, he combined with Thulasimathi Murugesan to outwit the Chinese pair of Li Mingpin and Xiao Zuxian 21-19, 14-21, 21-17 in a thrilling semifinal that lasted 42 minutes at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium.

The Indians also picked up five bronze medals in different events.

"I was playing two semifinals today, pulling out both of them, playing two finals tomorrow, both of them being the Paralympics events. So, yeah, very happy," Nitesh said.

“Stroke-wise, I have the upper hand. He doesn't have a lot of variations… I got a little nervy at the end of the first set. I think I got casual…. but then happy to have the lead after the break in the second set and then pulling off the game."

About the mixed doubles clash, Nitesh said: "We got a little distracted in between and started making a few errors, but it was good that we got our rhythm back at the start of the third set.

"So, when we shifted sides, we had a good lead. That gave us a little extra confidence going into the crucial phase of the match."

Naveen displayed composure under pressure to notch up a 21-13, 21-15 win over compatriot Abhijeet Sakhuja in the men's singles SL4 semifinal to enter the final.

"I'm very proud because this is my first Asian Games and I've reached the final," he said.

"Usually, my starts are very bad. I give my opponents three or four points at the start, but this time I started well from the beginning, and that helped me."

Sakhuja thus signed off with a bronze medal.

Sanjana Kumari also won a bronze after losing 7-21, 9-21 to Japan's Shino Kawai in the women's singles SL3 semifinals.

"The semifinal could have been better, but I will come back with hard work. Now the goal is the 2028 Olympics; I need to qualify for it," Sanjana said.

In the mixed doubles event, it could have been an all-Indian summit clash, but Manisha Ramdass and Pramod Bhagat went down 21-16, 13-21, 17-21 to Indonesia's Leani Ratri Oktila and Hikmat Ramdani and signed off with a bronze.

"We are feeling bad because it was a really close match and we had a chance. We performed well, and we were almost there. But I am really proud of the way he pushed today, and I am proud of myself as well for giving my all. But something went wrong, and we made some errors. Hopefully, we will be back for our singles matches," Manisha said.

Thulasimathi and Nitesh will now face Leani and Hikmat in the gold-medal match.

In men's singles, Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist and defending champion Suhas LY went down 21-23, 21-8, 15-21 to Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan in the SL4 semifinal to sign off with another bronze medal.

"Disappointed with the bronze medal... I defeated him in the group matches and was looking forward to winning today, but it was not my day," Suhas said.

Krishna Nagar and Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan also signed off with a bronze after losing to Indonesia's Rina Marlina and Subhan 14-21, 18-21 in the mixed doubles SH6 semifinal.

"We made some judgement errors in the first set...We made mistakes while trying for quick points. We need to improve our game. We had a good chance," Krishna said.

Krishna won a silver medal in the men's doubles event as well.

"My campaign has been okay. My goal was to play in the singles' final, but I couldn’t. I lost in the quarterfinals. I faced good players as I was seeded. I lost in the third set, so there were mistakes. But I have worked on my endurance and game speed.”

In para badminton, SL3 is for players with significant lower-limb impairments who compete on a half court, while SU5 is for players with upper-limb impairments.

SL4 is for players with minimal impairment affecting walking and running balance. They compete on a full court.

The SL3-SU5 event pairs athletes from the two classifications.

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