The gold rush continued for Indian contingent at the 2026 Asian Para Games in Nagoya (Japan) with Naveen Sivakumar emerging victorious in the men’s singles SL4 badminton final after defeating Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan in straight games on Friday.
Naveen dominated the contest, winning 21-9, 21-17 in 36 minutes to secure the gold medal at the ongoing Games.
India’s Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan, meanwhile, had to settle for silver in the women’s singles SH6 event after going down 12-21, 13-21 against China’s Li Fengmei in the final.
Thulasimathi Murugesan, a silver medallist at the Paris Paralympics, also finished second after losing her women’s singles SU5 final to China’s Yang Qiuxia. The 24-year-old went down 18-21, 11-21 at the Ichinomiya City Municipal
Gymnasium.
However, Murugesan still has two more opportunities to win gold at the continental event. She will join forces with Nitesh Kumar in the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 final, where the Indian pair will face Indonesia’s Leani Ratri Oktila and Hikmat Ramdani.
She will subsequently partner Manasi Girishchandra Joshi in the women’s doubles SL3-SU5 final against China’s Yang Qiuxia and Xiao Zuxian.
In para badminton, SL3 is for players with significant lower-limb impairments who compete on a half court, while SL4 is for athletes with lower-limb impairments who have better walking and running balance. SU5 is for players with upper-limb impairments, while SH6 is for athletes with short stature.
Earlier, Nitesh Kumar delivered a composed performance to defeat fellow Indian and Paralympic gold medallist Pramod Bhagat 21-18, 21-16 in an all-Indian final.
“Very happy to win the Asian Games gold medal. Last time I was close, I was leading 19-16 in the third set, and then I lost. So this time, winning it and again winning in two sets against Pramod is, of course, very special, and I think it’s one of the rarest of the rare things to see,” said Nitesh, the Paris Paralympic gold medallist.
Bhagat, who had claimed gold medals at the 2018 and 2022 editions, had to be content with silver this time.
“It doesn’t feel that good because I had won two consecutive gold medals at the Asian Games, and I was trying to win a third gold here. I had everything, but today some of my strokes went wrong and my judgment was slightly off, which is why I am contenting myself with just a silver,” said the Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist.
With PTI Inputs
