Pattaya (Thailand)/ Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s Pramod Bhagat secured gold medals in men’s singles SL3 category at the Para Badminton World Championship in Thailand Sunday.
Tokyo Paralymic gold medallist Bhagat, who won a gold and two bronze at the Para Asian Games in China, edged out England’s Daniel Bethell 14-21 21-15 21-14 in SL3 (standing/lower limb impairment/severe) final.
Bhagat thus completed a hat-trick of crowns after Stoke Mandeville in 2015 and Basel in 2019. He also won a gold medal at 2022 Tokyo and 2009 Seoul edition.
“This win holds a very special place in my heart for various reasons,” said Bhagat, one of the six siblings, who was diagnosed with polio when he was five years old.
“First being that I have managed to equal my idol Lin Dan’s record of five world championships and second being having been able to retain three consecutive world championships.”
Apart from the gold, the 35-year-old also won two bronze medals in men’s doubles and mixed doubles along with Sukant Kadam and Manisha Ramadass respectively. The three medals took his tally to 14, which includes 6 gold, 3 silver, 5 bronze across categories.
Bhagat vs Bethell:
Pramod and Bethell enjoy a healthy rivalry with the England shuttler having won 11 times in 17 meetings.
The final turned out to be an exhaustive and tight contest as the duo engaged in a slugfest for an hour and 40 minutes.
“This match with Bethell would be my toughest both mentally and physically. I have not been playing well against Bethell past few months and this was my time to prove doubters wrong.
“The match was exhaustive and Bethell played brilliantly but somehow, I managed to pull out a win,” Bhagat said.
Alongside Bhagat, India’s Suhas Yathiraj and Krishna Nagar capped their impressive run by securing gold medals in men’s singles SL4 and SH6 class respectively.
PNN & Agencies