India ends para-badminton campaign at Asian Para Games with three golds and 16 medals

Nitesh Kumar wins an all-Indian men’s singles final

Nitesh Kumar defeated fellow Indian and Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist Pramod Bhagat 21-18, 21-16 to win the men’s singles SL3 gold at the Asian Para Games in Nagoya on October 23. Bhagat took silver after reaching the final in the event he won at the 2018 and 2022 editions.

The result was confirmed in the same-day coverage, with the match scores and Bhagat’s silver medal consistently reported. Kumar’s victory completed the men’s singles SL3 final as an all-Indian contest.

Naveen Sivakumar wins gold on his debut

Debutant Naveen Sivakumar won the men’s singles SL4 gold by beating Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan 21-9, 21-17 in 36 minutes. After the match, Sivakumar said it was his first Asian Games and that he had prepared for the event by facing his opponents in earlier tournaments.

Sivakumar also said his goal was to win major tournament titles and that he wanted to achieve success at the World Championships and Olympics. Those were his stated ambitions rather than commitments or confirmed future results.

Thulasimathi adds a mixed doubles silver

Thulasimathi Murugesan won another silver in the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 event, partnering Nitesh Kumar in the final. The Indian pair lost 21-11, 19-21, 14-21 to Indonesia’s Leani Ratri Oktila and Hikmat Ramdani.

Separate same-day reporting identified Thulasimathi as a silver medalist in the women’s singles SU5 event after a loss to China’s Yang Qiuxia, 18-21, 11-21. Another Indian women’s singles result reported in the same coverage was Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan’s silver in SH6 following a 12-21, 13-21 loss to China’s Li Fengmei.

India closes with a 16-medal haul

India’s para-badminton campaign at the continental event ended with 16 medals: three gold, five silver and eight bronze. Nitesh and Naveen supplied two of the three gold medals, while Thulasimathi’s mixed doubles silver contributed to India’s overall total.

The wider Indian delegation finished the Asian Para Games with a reported record 114 medals, comprising 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze, for fourth place overall. Para-badminton accounted for 16 of those medals. The delegation total came from a report on the conclusion of the campaign in Japan, while the individual badminton results were separately reported by multiple outlets.