Tokyo Paralympics: Shuttlers Pramod, Palak lose mixed doubles bronze against Japanese duo

India`s Pramod Bhagat and Palak Kohli playing against Japan`s Daisuke Fujihara and Akiko Sugino in the mixed doubles at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Pic/ AFP

The Indian shuttler duo of Pramod Bhagat and Palak Kohli lost by 2-0 in the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 bronze medal match here at Yoyogi National Stadium on Sunday.

Playing at Court 3, the unseeded pair of Daisuke Fujihara and Akiko Sugino of Japan defeated the Indians in straight sets by 23-21 and 21-19 in just 37 minutes.

As expected, the early exchanges of the match were very close as the shuttle kept changing on the racquet of players from both teams. The pair of Palak-Pramod then stepped up their game to gain a one-point lead by 11-10 going into the mid-game interval.

The Japanese pair came back strongly after the resumption as they gained the two-point lead for the first time in the match at 20-18. But Indians showed their grit as they saved two game points to level the match 20-20. Eventually, it was the duo of Daisuke and Akiko who held their nerves better and clinched the game by 23-21 in 17 minutes.

The second set saw the duo of Pramod and Kohli showing more resolve as they levelled the game at 10-10 after being down 6-10. The Japanese pair had a slender lead of one point by 11-10 at the break. After the resumption, the match again moved on point to point basis as no team was able to gain a clear-cut advantage.

With the score at 19-19, Daisuke and Akiko again showed more composure as they clinched the last two points to close the game and match. The Japanese pair bagged the bronze medal while the duo of Pramod and Palak finished fourth at the Games.

Earlier in the day, Krishna Nagar clinched the gold medal by defeating Chu Man Kai 2-1 in the men's singles SH6 -final match. Battling it out on Court 1, the second-seed Indian overwhelmed Chu Man Kai in three sets by 21-17, 16-21, 21-17 in 43 minutes. This was India's fifth gold medal at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics.

Suhas L Yathiraj, the Noida District Magistrate, bagged the silver medal after going down fighting in the final of the men's singles SL4 event against France's Lucas Mazur. Lucas won by 15-21, 21-17, 21-15 in 1 hour and 2 minutes.