Just minutes after, Pramod Bhagat wins the historic gold medal, his compatriot Manoj Sarkar in the nearby court bags the bronze medal and gives India its 2nd medal at the first-ever Men’s Singles SL3 Para-Badminton competition at the Paralympics Games.
The 31-year-old, Manoj Sarkar sealed the match by winning in two straight games 22-20, 21-13 against Daisuke Fujihara from Japan. The Bronze Medal Match had lasted for 47 minutes and was played at Court 3 of the Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo.
Manoj does it for 🇮🇳! #IND's Manoj Sarkar bags the #Bronze medal in #ParaBadminton Men's Singles SL3, getting the better of #JPN's Daisuke Fujihara. 🥉
For the second time today, 2⃣ Indians make up the podium places. Wow. #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/CrW8NMBC3v
— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) September 4, 2021
By claiming victory, he became the second Indian shuttler to win a medal in Para-Badminton at the history of the Paralympic Games.
Manoj Sarkar had lost in the semi-final to the eventual silver medalist Daniel Bethell from Great Britain. Whereas, Daisuke Fujihara lost to the eventual Paralympic Champion Pramod Bhagat in the semi-final of Men’s Singles SL3.
In the SL3 class, athletes would often compete on half-court. Here the athletes would have impairment in one or both lower limbs. Manoj Sarkar contracted polio at age one and by the age of five started playing Badminton.
Therefore, with this India’s medal tally now stands at 17 at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020. India so far has, four gold, seven silver, six bronze making it India’s best-ever Paralympics.
