TOKYO, Nov 4: Manisha Ramadass and Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan reached the semifinals of women’s singles and doubles events at the BWF Para Badminton World Championships here on Friday.
Ramadass and Sivan, both playing their first Worlds, joined former champion Manasi Joshi who too made it to the semifinals in the women’s singles SL3 and mixed doubles SL3-SU5 along with Ruthick Ragupathi.
Ramadass first saw off compatriot Shanthiya Viswanathan 21-8 21-8 and then paired up with Mandeep Kaur, who exited in her women’s singles SL3 event, to beat Joshi and Viswnathan 21-17 21-15.
“It feels great to be in the semis of two events at my first World Championships. But I am not done yet, I want to give my best shot and make my country proud again.
“Initially it was difficult to adjust to the conditions here; the body is not warming up soon. But now I have got used to it and I feel I am able to play my usual game,” said Ramadass, who has won 10 gold medals since playing her first international in March 2022.
On a day when several Indian para shuttlers exited from their events after losing their quarterfinal matches, Paralympic champion Krishna Nagar crashed out of the Worlds Championships, going down 21-15 21-23 19-21 to England’s Krysten Coombs.
Nagar, however, paired up with Sivan to overcome Hong Kong’s Chu Man Kai and Choi Wing Kei 23-21 21-18 in mixed doubles. Sivan later teamed up with Rachana Shaileshkumar Patel to beat England’s 15-year-old Anya Butterworth and Egypt’s Yasmina Eissa 21-10, 21-14.
In the women’s singles SH6, Sivan kept her hopes alive, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Cai Yi-Lin 21-13, 21-6 to advance as did Parul Parmar after battling Brazil’s Adriane Spinetti Avila 21-12,19-21,21-15.
Bhagat, Sarkar in two semifinals
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Paralympic champion Pramod Bhagat led the men’s charge, winning his men’s singles quarterfinal match over Ukraine’s Oleksandr Chyrkov 21-17, 21-19.
Defending champions Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar reached the men’s doubles SL3-SL4 semifinals with a bye.
“It was a good match. Slowly I feel I am forming a bonding with the courts here. And my body feels good playing here. I am confident of making the top of podium,” said the five-time world champion Bhagat.
Sarkar, meanwhile, overcame a second game scare to defeat France’s Mathieu Thomas 21-15 12-21 9-21 in the men’s singles SL3 quarterfinals and booked a clash with compatriot Nitesh Kumar who pulled off an easy win against William Smith 21-8 21-12.
“I started the match quite casually but once I got into the rhythm, I felt good about my game. I tried to change the strategy too to not give away points to him (Thomas), which I did in the second game,” said Sarkar, the Basel 2019 bronze medallist, hoping to make it to the finals this time.
In men’s singles SL4, Sukant Kadam pulled off a spirited 21-10 21-15 win over Singapore’s Chee Hiong Ang. Kadam next faces Fredy Setiawan, the Paralympic bronze medallist from Indonesia.
Among others, Chirag Baretha and Raj Kumar, Hardik Makkar and Ruthick Ragupathi advanced to men’s doubles SU5 semifinals.
In other thrilling matches, Sivarajan Solaimalai fought his heart out before losing 21-19,19-21, 21-19 to England’s top player Jack Shephard, while Prem Kumar Ale and Abu Hubaida also exited after fighting for 1 hour 22 minutes against France’s Thomas Jakobs and David Toupe 21-18, 11-21, 23-21. (PTI)
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