Jakarta: Ace para-shuttler of Odisha Pramod Bhagat had to be satisfied with a bronze medal in the para-badminton doubles event of the Asian Para Games here Friday. Pramod partnered with compatriot Manoj Sarkar to lose the final to an Indonesian pair 13-21, 19-25.
However Pramod again performed splendidly to enter the final of the singles event. He battled hard to edge out his Vietnam rival Tuein-Trins Ahan 21-17, 18-21, 21-9 in a keenly-contested semifinal. He will face Ukun Rukandi of Indonesia in the Saturday final.
A couple of gold medals from chess and another one from a shuttler ensured India continued their impressive performance. Paralympic medallist Deepa Malik bagged her second bronze. K Jennitha Anto clinched the gold in women’s individual rapid P1 chess event after beating Manurung Roslinda of Indonesia 1-0 in the final round, while Kishan Gangolli got the better of Majid Bagheri in the men’s individual rapid VI – B2/B3 event to claim the top spot. In para-badminton, Parul Parmar notched up a 21-9, 21-5 victory over Wandee Kamtam of Thailand to win the gold medal in the women’s singles SL3 event.
In swimming, Swapnil Patil clinched a silver in the men’s 100m backstroke in the S10 category. Patil earlier won a bronze in the men’s 400m freestyle. India also won a bronze medal in the men’s C4 Individual Pursuit 4000m cycling event with Gurlal Singh claiming the third position.
Earlier in the day, Rio Paralympics silver-medallist Deepa Malik bagged her second medal when she clinched the bronze in the women’s F51/52/53s discus throw. In the women’s discus throw F11 category, Nidhi Mishra claimed a bronze covering a personal distance of 21.82m. India now have 59 medals in the Games, which conclude Saturday. Eleven of these are gold, 18 silver and 30 bronze.
