BHUBANESWAR 17-Mar-2019
Odisha bagged six medals in the Dr Akhilesh Das Gupta Memorial 3rd National Para Badminton Championships, which was held at Rudrapur Sports Stadium, Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand from 15 to 17 March, 2019. The medals included two gold, one silver and three bronze.
International shuttler Pramod Bhagat won both the gold and one bronze in mens Standing Lower (SL) 3 category. He emerged singles champion, defeating Umesh Vikram Kumar (Haryana) in the final 21-6, 21-19. Bhagat clinched a double crown, capturing the doubles title with Manoj Sarkar of Uttarakhand as his partner.
Bhagat and Sarkar won the final against Haryana pair of Nitesh Kumar and Tarun Dhilan 21-18, 21-15. Bhagat captured the bronze medal in the mixed-doubles event with Palak Kohli of Punjab as his partner. They lost in the semifinals to Haryana duo of Tarun and Jyoti 18-21, 22-24.
Sunil Pradhan pocketed one silver and one bronze for Odisha in men’s Short-Stature (SS) 6 category. He grabbed the silver medal in the men’s doubles section with Mark Dharmai of Maharashtra as his partner. They lost to Rajasthan-West Bengal pair of Krishna Nagar and Raja Magotra in the final 9-21, 4-21.
Pradhan and Lata Umrekar of Maharashtra claimed bronze medal in the mix-doubles event after losing to Rajasthan-Maharashtra combination of Krishna and Ruhi 13-21, 17-21 in the semifinals.
The other bronze medal for Odisha was picked up by Purnabasi Pradhan in U-19 girls singles event of Standing Upper (SU) 5 Category after going down 4-21, 8-21 in the semifinals against Rukshana of Tamil Nadu.
A six-member squad represented Odisha in this championship. Other three Odisha shuttlers were: Dileswar Rao, Narul Hussen Khan and Subhrajit Maharana. The squad was guided by coach Siba Prasad Das.
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PHOTO: Odisha medalists (L to R) Purnabasi Pradhan, Sunil Pradhan and Pramod Bhagat with coach Siba Prasad Das (2nd from R) in Udham Singh Nagar on 17 March, 2019.
