Manasi-Thulasimathi advanced to the semi-finals and secured India a medal in badminton

Manasi Joshi and Thulasimathi Murugesan secured a medal for India at the Asian Para Games for the second consecutive edition after defeating China’s Yuemei Liu and Tongtong Li to reach the women’s doubles SL3-SU5 semi-finals on Saturday.

The Indian pair, silver medalists at the Hangzhou 2023 Games, registered a 21-10, 21-17 victory to secure the top two spots in Group A with a margin. Both the losing semi-finalists were assured of bronze medals and the victory confirmed India’s place on the podium.

Joshi and Thulasimathi defeated Indonesia’s Rahayu Warining and Qonitah Ikhtiar Syakuroh on Friday. They will face China’s Yang Qiuxia and Xiao Zuxian in their final group match on Monday.

Joshi had earlier made history as the first Indian athlete appears on the cover of Time magazine. The SL3-SU5 doubles competition includes players with lower or upper extremity disabilities who compete in the combined classification.

KRISHNA NAGAR MAKE IT TO THE QUARTERFINALS

Tokyo Paralympic champion Krishna Nagar booked his place in the SH6 men’s singles quarterfinals after defeating Indonesia’s Subhan 21-13, 21-15. The win gave Nagar its second straight win and secured the top two spots in Group C with one match remaining. The SH6 category is for short players.

India also enjoyed a strong run in men’s singles SL3 where Paris Paralympic champion Nitesh Kumar defeated Thailand’s Natthapol Chamnanwet 21-6, 21-7. Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist Pramod Bhagat beat China’s Xiong Lichuan 21-17, 21-16, while Umesh Vikram Kumar beat Philippines’ Khian Kyle Urbano 21-10, 21-12.

In SL4 men’s singles, Naveen Sivakumar beat Indonesia’s Hikmat Ramdani 21-12, 21-10 and Surya Kant Yadav beat Japan’s Koki Ogawa 21-6, 21-19. Both categories represent standing players with a lower limb disability, with SL4 covering less severe disabilities than SL3.

Sukant Kadam cruised through a three-game match against South Korea’s Shin Kyung Hwan to win 21-17, 18-21, 21-9. Abhijeet Sakhuja also bounced back from losing his opening match to beat Thailand’s Siripong Teamarrom 19-21, 21-16, 21-10.

In the SU5 men’s singles, which is for standing players with upper limb disabilities, Ruthick Ragupathi beat Japan’s Wataru Kanai 21-12, 21-13. Hardik Makkar also advanced with a 21-16, 16-21, 21-18 win over Malaysia’s Amyrul Yazid bin Ahmad Sibi.

WHEELCHAIR PLAYERS ADD TO INDIA’S WINS

Prem Kumar Ale battled back from losing his opening match to beat Omair Younas of the United Arab Emirates 20-22, 21-9, 21-10 in the men’s singles WH1 category for wheelchair users with a greater trunk and lower limb disability.

Haris Mythili beat Indonesia’s Wiwin Andri 21-13, 21-17 in the WH2, which features wheelchair players with minor disabilities. However, Abu Hubaida lost 13-21, 11-21 to Japan’s Reo Oyama.

In the men’s singles SH6, Sivarajan Solaimalai beat Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Yim 21-13, 21-14. Sudarsan Muthusamy suffered an 8-21, 6-21 defeat against Hong Kong’s Chu Man Kai.

MIXED RESULTS IN WOMEN’S EVENTS

Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan defeated China’s Lin Shuangbao 21-18, 21-13 in SH6 women’s singles. Thulasimathi recorded a commanding 21-2, 21-2 victory over Brunei’s Zainab Mohamed in SU5, while Manisha Ramadass defeated compatriot Shanthiya Vishwanathan 21-8, 21-15 in the same category.

India also suffered several defeats in women’s singles SL3. Joshi lost 3-21, 3-21 to Japan’s Shino Kawai, Sanjana Kumari lost 13-21, 6-21 to Indonesia’s Qonitah Ikhtiar Syakuroh and Neeraj was beaten 5-21, 10-21 by China’s Xiao Zuxian.

Mandeep Kaur lost 5-21, 13-21 to Malaysia’s Siti Maisarah B. Mat Lawani. In SL4 women’s singles, Kanak Singh Jadaun suffered a 4-21, 3-21 defeat against China’s Huang Zixuan, while Pallavi Kaluvehalli lost 13-21, 14-21 to China’s Yang Fan in WH1 wheelchair singles.

A COUPLE OF COUPLES THINK MUCH

Surya Kant and Naveen Sivakumar won 21-7, 21-19 over China’s Mingpan Li and Lichuan Xiong in the men’s doubles SL3-SU5.

Sukant Kadam and Bhagat lost 21-18, 19-21, 11-21 to South Korea’s Shin Kyung Hwan and Cho Nadan. Umesh Vikram Kumar and Rakesh Pandey were beaten 14-21, 10-21 by Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan and Hikmat Ramdani.

In the SL3-SU5 women’s doubles, Mandeep Kaur and Shanthiya Vishwanathan lost 11-21, 12-21 to China’s Hefang Cheng and Zixuan Huang.

India’s WH1-WH2 mixed doubles team of Alphia James and Prem Kumar Ale defeated Chinese Taipei’s I-Chen Yang and Yu-Yu Ong 21-9, 21-17.

There were defeats in the SL3-SU5 mixed doubles where Manisha Ramadass and Pramod Bhagat lost 19-21, 16-21 to Indonesia’s Leani Ratri Oktila and Hikmat Ramdani. Ruthick Ragupathi and Joshi were beaten 10-21, 17-21 by China’s Mingpan Li and Zuxian Xiao.

Nagar and Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan also lost their SH6 mixed doubles match, going down 6-21, 10-21 to China’s Naili Lin and Fengmei Li.

– The end