Picture Credit: Twitter
It has been another incredible day for the Indian Paralympic contingent in Tokyo on Saturday. It all started with a fantastic performance by the shooters earlier in the day to secure a double podium for India, with Manish Narwal and Adhana Singhraj winning gold and silver medals respectively in Mixed 50m Pistols SH1 event.
Meanwhile, India had already confirmed one more medal in badminton as Pramod Bhagat had qualified for the finals in Men's Badminton Singles SL3. With 3 gold medals already in the bag, the expectations of the Indian fans had risen to a whole new level as they waited in anticipation for Pramod's gold medal match.
Pramod Bhagat wins the finals in straight games
The Indian shuttler was up against Great Britain's Daniel Bethell in the final showdown. Pramod dominated the contest right from the beginning and sealed the first game by 21-14 inside 21 minutes. Although his opponent tried to pave his way back into the match in next game, Pramod showed his class and eventually went on to win the second game by 21-17, that lasted 24 minutes.
It was a cheeky drop shot which sealed the gold medal for Pramod as the Indian shuttler ran towards his coach, jumped over him and hugged him in a heartwarming celebration. It just reflected how much the win meant to the 33-year-old and it was undoubtedly special for everyone present in the stadium and for all the Indian fans cheering for him in front of their TV screens.
Watch the video here:
Pramod Bhagat's journey in Tokyo
The shuttler had a remarkable outing in Tokyo as he went on to clinch India's first-ever medal in badminton in history of Paralympics. Few minutes later, the nation had added another one when Manoj Sarkar also clinched a bronze medal in the same category.
Talking about Pramod's journey, the 33-year-old had defeated India's Manoj Sarkar and Ukraine's Oleksandr Chyrkov in the group stages. He then went on to beat Japan's Daisuke Fujihara in the semis before overcoming the final challenge, posed by Great Britain's Daniel Bethell in the gold medal match.
Notably, Bhagat will have a chance to win another medal on Sunday when he returns to the court to play bronze medal match in Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5 event alongside Palak Kohli.