Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], October 20 (ANI): The current Asian and Paralympics champion Pramod Bhagat confirmed himself another medal in the para-badminton event at the ongoing Asian Para Games, defeating Japan's Daisuke Fujihara in the quarterfinal on Tuesday, sealing a place in the semifinal and also a medal.
Pramod, India's flag-bearer at the event, beat Daisuke in the men's singles SL3 quarterfinal by 21-12, 21-10 (2-0). Earlier, in para badminton, India’s mixed SL3-SU5 pair of Pramod and Manisha Ramdass assured themselves of a medal by advancing to the semifinals. The duo defeated their Thai duo of Srinavakul Chanida and Teamarrom Siripong 21-15, 21-14 in straight games in just 25 minutes in the quarterfinals.
"PRAMOD BHAGAT STORMS INTO THE SEMIFINAL! Men’s Singles SL3 - Quarterfinal The reigning champion is on a mission for GOLD at the #AsianParaGames2026! TOPS athlete Pramod Bhagat (WR-2), the reigning World and Asian Para Games champion, delivered a dominant performance, defeating Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara (WR-6) in straight games, 2-0 (21-12, 21-10)! With this victory, Pramod advances to the SEMIFINAL, assuring India of a medal! Even better, India is now assured of TWO MEDALS in this event! The pursuit of glory continues! #Cheer4Bharat #AsianParaGames2026 #ParaBadminton #TeamIndia," posted SAI Media on their official X handle.
PRAMOD BHAGAT STORMS INTO THE SEMIFINAL! 🇮🇳🔥 Men’s Singles SL3 - Quarterfinal The reigning champion is on a mission for GOLD at the #AsianParaGames2026! TOPS athlete Pramod Bhagat (WR-2), the reigning World and Asian Para Games champion, delivered a dominant performance, defeating Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara (WR-6) in straight games, 2-0 (21-12, 21-10)! 🇮🇳 With this victory, Pramod advances to the SEMIFINAL, assuring India of a medal! Even better, India is now assured of TWO MEDALS in this event! 🥇🥉 The pursuit of glory continues! #Cheer4Bharat #AsianParaGames2026 #ParaBadminton #TeamIndia #MedalAssured
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) October 20, 2026
Earlier, former Paralympics para-shooter Manish Narwal secured a silver medal in the men's 10 m air pistol SH1 category at the ongoing continental showpiece.
Having won a bronze medal in the Asian Para Games 2023 in Hangzhou, Narwal (233.7) finished behind South Korea's Jo Jeongdu (241.3), and above China's Yang Chao, as per ESPN.
Manish achieved a fifth-place finish in the qualification round, but the second series of 49.8 in the final lifted him into medal contention. The world record holder Jeongdu was excellent, way away from the chasing pack.
The other Indian in the final, Rudranksh Khandelwal, managed a seventh-place finish and was the second person to be eliminated after a poor start. His final was in contrast to his performance in the qualification, where he finished second.
He has also achieved the Los Angeles Paralympics 2028 for India.
In para-table tennis, Jehan Madan secured a silver medal in men's singles class 1, finishing fourth in the group. In the five-man field, Jehan finished fourth, only beating compatriot Sandeep Dangi, but it was enough for him to take home a medal.
Also, Ashok secured a silver medal in the men's 65 kg para-powerlifting, with a best lift of 192 kg. He was behind the champion, China's Zou Yi, who took home the gold, with a best lift of 216 kg.
This takes India's Asian Para Games medal tally to 22 medals, including five golds, eight silvers and nine bronze medals.
India ended the day one of the competition with 11 medals, including four gold medals, five silvers and two bronze medals.
Earlier, Indian para-table tennis players Baby Sahana Ravi and Prachi Pandey won bronze medals in the women's singles Class 9 and Class 6 events.
Baby Sahana lost 0-3 (8-11, 2-11, 4-11) to China's Mao Jingdian in the semi-finals of the women's singles Class 9 event and settled for a bronze medal. Notably, her medal marked India's first-ever medal in the standing category of para table tennis at the Asian Para Games.
On the other hand, Prachi Pandey also secured bronze in the women's singles Class 6 event after losing her semi-final match to Iraq's Najlah Al-Dayyeni in straight games, 9-11, 2-11, and 8-11.
With Baby Sahana Ravi and Prachi Pandey winning bronze medals, India secured four medals in para table tennis on the same day.
Earlier on the day, Bhavina Patel secured a bronze medal after facing a 3-0 defeat to China's Zhang Bian in the Women's Singles Class 4-5 semi-finals. Patel, a silver medallist at the 2020 Paralympics, bowed out of the singles competition after suffering a 7-11, 5-11, 7-11 defeat to China’s Zhang Bian in the semifinals.
Sonalben Patel also secured a bronze in the women's singles Class 3 event after losing her semi-fi
nal against South Korea's Yoon Jiyu in straight games, 7-11, 5-11, 6-11.
Besides four medals in para table tennis, Pradeep Kumar won silver, and Ayush Verma secured bronze in the men's javelin throw F53/F54 event, while Praveen Sharma added another bronze in the men's shot put F11 event.
The standout performance of the day came from Indian para-athlete Deepthi Jeevanji, who clinched gold in the women's 400m T20 event with a Games-record time of 56.36 seconds. (ANI)
