Posted by SHOOTING, R6 MIXED 50M AIR RIFLE PRONE SH1 QUALIFICATION : Avani Lekhara, Sidhartha Babu and Deepak none qualified for the final medal event. Opening series saw Avani Lekhara with a 102.8, Sidhartha Babu with a 103.3 and Deepak with a very poor 97.5. Avani was in and around the contention but after a few series slipped out, Avani finsihed with a total of 612 and was ranked 28th. Deepak started poor and slipped out of contention early trying to recover from the poor start, Deepak Saini finsihed with a total of 602.2 and was ranked 46th. Sidhartha was the one who remained in and around the qualification contention with great consistency but in a series missed a bit of momentum but did well, recovered and finsihed 9th in the rankings, he failed to qualify falling 0.2 shy from a finish in top 8.
BADMINTON, MEN’S SINGLES SL4 GOLD MEDAL MATCH : Suhas Yathiraj settles for a silver after losing to Lucas Mazur of France in decider. Opening set, Suhas and Lucas had a neck to neck fight before Suhas started taking control and had a handy 11-8 lead at halfway stage, second half saw Suhas confidently extending his handy lead and with a comfortable margin of 21-15 bagged the opening set. Second set, Suhas had the lead early on before Lucas staged a comeback and had the lead but Suhas equalised and took a 11-8 lead at halfway stage, Lucas got his aggresive game on and reclaimed the lead, Suhas then equalised but wasn’t a lot after that as Lucas was inching close to the game point and bagged the points in real quick time to not lose momentum and won the set 21-17 taking the game to the decider. Decider, Suhas with the early lead that Lucas equalised and Suhas with a point lead 11-10 end the first half, Lucas put up a steeler show in the second half as he looked in control and quickly bagged points extending his lead and bagged the game point with a comfortable margin of 21-15. Fantastic from Suhas but at the end wasn’t enough, missed a bit of momentum towards the end and failed to capitalize on small moment and ended up losing control. A silver for Suhas Yathiraj to end his Paralympics campaign, an impressive season.
BADMINTON, MEN’S SINGLES SH6 GOLD MEDAL MATCH : Krishna Nagar bags a gold, defeated Hong Kong’s Chu Man Kai in decider. Opening set saw a neck to neck fight but Chu Man Kai managed a healthy lead and was with the lead at halfway stage, just when Chu was taking the game away Krishna staged a comeback and levelled the lead at 17, extended and bagged the set 21-17. Second set, an early fight before Chu manages to bag the lead and ends the first half with a healthy 11-8 lead, Chu extends the lead and there wasn’t much for Krishna as Chu comfortably bagged the second set 21-16 taking the gold medal match to a finish it deserves, a decider. Final set, Krishna with a good healthy lead early on and continued the same momentum at halfway stage with score of 11-7, second half saw Krishna extend his lead but Chu Man Kai staged a fantastic comeback and levelled the scores, was a neck to neck fight as the game went back and forth before Krishna bagged a good lead that he capitalized on and bagged the decider 21-17, just couldn’t have had a better finish. Settler from Krishna and nothing better than a gold finish for the fight.
BADMINTON, MEN’S SINGLES SL4 BRONZE MEDAL MATCH : Tarun Dhillon lost to Indonesian Fredy Setiawan in straight sets. Opening set, saw a real quick start and was a neck to neck fight and at halfway stage Tarun had a point lead, 11-10. Second half saw both share points and Fredy had a small lead that Tarun equalised at 17 but Fredy switched gears and bagged the opening set 21-17. Second set, Fredy with a 5 point lead early on that he extends before Tarun staged a mini comeback but wasn’t enough as Fredy stormed through to the game point with a comfortable lead and bagged the second set 21-11 and hands a upset to Tarun Dhillon with a defeat in straight sets.
BADMINTON, MIXED DOUBLES SL3-SU5 BRONZE MEDAL MATCH : Indian duo of Palak Kohli and Pramod Bhagat lost to Japanese duo in straight sets, was a spirited fight and the win in straight sets for Japan wasn’t a comfortable one. Opening set, a neck to neck fight before India staged a comeback, levelled the scores and bagged a point lead at halfway stage, second half saw Japanese duo level the lead but India reclaimed the lead but wasn’t for long as the lead was levelled at 18, 20 and 21 before Japan managed the game point to bag the opening set 23-21. Second set, Japan with the momentum continued their run with an early lead but India did well to bounce back and reduced Japan’s lead to 1 at halfway stage, 11-10. Second half, India equalised the scores at 13 and scores were then levelled at 15, 17, 19 before the Japanese duo bagged the bronze finishing the second set with a 21-19 margin. Top class and fantastic game of shuttle by both sides, the Japanese duo did well to perform in crunch moments of the game.
5 Golds, 8 Silvers and 6 Bronze for India, a total of 19 medals for India in this edition of Paralympics.
That it is on India’s final day at Paralympics, promising finish and a promising edition of Paralympics for India that’s seen several asian, world and new records set by our Para atheletes. India end their Paralympics 2020 campaign with an stunning medal count of 19, India before the 2020 Paralympics had a total of 12 medals in Paralympics, turns out to be a massive success for India and comes down to the sports developments of India that’s improving and has a long way ahead.
Bureau of sports 