Para shuttler Pramod Bhagat wins 2 gold medals in Brazil

NEW DELHI: Pramod Bhagat clinched two gold medals as India’s Para badminton players returned home with a rich haul of 10 medals from the Brazil Para-Badminton International Championships, in Sao Paulo, on Monday.

World No. 1 Bhagat won gold medals in the men's singles SL3 and men's doubles SL3-SL4 categories along with Manoj Sarkar and thus accumulated the important ranking points towards the qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, where Para-Badminton will make its debut.

"It's great to start off the year on a strong note. Winning the golds here gave me a lot of confidence and I feel good now looking ahead in the Road to Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Last year, I had to settle for the silver in the Tokyo 2020 test event in Japan. It was disappointing," Bhagat told the Paralympic Committee of India.

Top seed Pramod Bhagat first defeated compatriot Sarkar, seeded second, in a thrilling men's singles final 22-20, 23-21 before combining with the latter to pull off a comfortable 21-11, 21-7 win over China's Chen Xiaoyu and Gao Yuyang in the men's doubles SL 3-SL 4 event.

The other gold medallist for India was Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj, who put up a brilliant performance to succeed in a nail-biting men's singles SL4 final. Agencies

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