Shuttler Pramod Bhagat won India‘s fourth gold medal at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics, defeating Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell 2-0 in the men’s singles SL3 final on Saturday. The win takes India’s total medal haul to 17, including four gold, seven silver and six bronze medals. 

Bhagat won 21-14, 21-17 in the match that lasted 45 mintues at the Yoyogi National Stadium to clinch India’s first-ever gold medal in badminton at the Paralympic Games in his maiden final appearance. 

Reigning world number one Bhagat is one of India’s best para shuttlers – having won 45 international medals, including four world champioship golds and a bronze at the 2018 Asian Para Games. 

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Bhagat, the top-seeded Indian, earlier beat Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara 21-11, 21-16 in the first SL3 semifinal match that lasted 36 minutes. 

In the SL3 class, athletes with lower limb impairment are allowed to compete. The Bhubneshwar-born shuttler contracted polio at the age of 4. He developed an interest in the sport since a young age, as he used to watch his neighbours play. 

After initially playing against able-bodied players, Bhagat took up para badminton in 2006. After becoming one of India’s best-ever players, he took up coaching but took a break in 2019 to focus on the Tokyo Paralympics. 

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In 2019, he was felicitated with the Arjuna Award and Biju Patnaik award for excellence in sports in India. 

Bhagat is also in contention for a bronze medal in the mixed-doubles SL3-SU5 class event. He and his partner Palak Kohli lost 3-21, 15-21 to Indonesia’s Hary Susanto and Leani Ratri Oktila in the semifinal earlier today. 

They will face Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara and Akiko Sugino in the bronze playoff on Sunday. 

Meanwhile, Manoj Sarkar also clinched a medal in the SL3 event, defeating Fujihara to secure bronze. Sarkar, 31, defeated Fujihara 22-20, 21-13 in the playoff match that lasted 47 minutes to take India’s total medal tally to 17.