Badminton: Pramod Bhagat reaches semifinals in men's singles SL3 at Tokyo Paralympics
Indian shuttler Pramod Bhagat stormed into the semifinals of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics with a straight-game victory over Ukraine's Oleksandr Chyrkov on Thursday. The Indian registered a convincing 21-12 21-9 win in 26 minutes to seal a berth in the semis of the SL3 event.
On Wednesday, Bhagat had defeated fellow countryman Manoj Sarkar 21-10 21-23 21-0 in 56 minutes.
The 33-year-old, who is the current Asian and world champion, qualified for the Tokyo Paralympics in two events – men's singles SL3 and mixed doubles SL3-SU5 with Palak Kohli. The duo lost its opening game against France and will take on Thailand's pair in their second game of Group B on September 3.
SL3 refers to minor standing or lower limb impairment, while SU5 is for players with an impairment of the upper limb.
"I don't want to disappoint the 1.4 billion people who are behind me, my aim is to get India's first gold in Paralympic badminton. I will be aiming for 2 golds, 1 in singles and 1 in mixed doubles," said Bhagat, who has so far won five medals at the world championships.
"Also being no.1 adds a lot of pressure of delivering at the world stage, I'm using that as motivation for myself to perform. We are hoping to win at least 3-4 medals for India."
Bhagat had claimed two gold medals at the Dubai Para Badminton tournament in April when the sport returned after a year-long break due to the pandemic.
