<p>Reigning world champion Pramod Bhagat on Saturday claimed a historic gold medal in men's singles SL3 class while Manoj Sarkar bagged the bronze as India stamped their prowess at the Tokyo Paralympics here.</p>.<p>Bhagat beat Great Britain's Daniel Bethell in the summit clash while Sarkar defeated Japan's Daisuke Fujihara in the third place play-off, with both the Indians winning in straight games.</p>.<p>In SL3 classification, athletes with lower limb impairment are allowed to compete.</p>.<p>With badminton making its debut at the Paralympics this year, Bhagat, the current world No 1, thus became the first Indian to win a gold medal in the sport.</p>.<p>The top seeded Indian, also an Asian champion, showed great mental fortitude as he prevailed 21-14 21-17 over second seeded Bethell in a thrilling final that lasted 45 minutes at the Yoyogi National Stadium.</p>.<p>The 33-year-old from Bhubaneswar also remains in contention for a bronze medal in mixed doubles SL3-SU5 class.</p>.<p>Bhagat and his partner Palak Kohli will square off against Japanese pair of Daisuke Fujihara and Akiko Sugino in the bronze medal play off on Sunday.</p>.<p>They had lost the semifinals 3-21 15-21 to Indonesian combination of Hary Susanto and Leani Ratri Oktila earlier in the day.</p>.<p>Bhagat, who had contracted polio when he was 4 years old, picked up the sports after watching his neighbours play. Initially, he competed against able-bodied players before getting into competitive para badminton in 2006.</p>.<p>He eventually emerged as one of the best para shuttlers in the country with 45 international medals under his belt, including four world championship gold medals and a gold and a bronze in 2018 Asian Para Games.</p>.<p>He also had started his career as a badminton coach but took a break in 2019 to focus on Tokyo Paralympics qualification.</p>.<p>In 2019, he received the Arjuna Award and Biju Patnaik Award for Excellence in Sports in India.</p>.<p>The 31-year-old Sarkar, who whose right leg was affected after he contracted polio at age one, displayed great resilience during his 22-20 21-13 win over Fujihara.</p>.<p>In the semifinals, Sarkar couldn't get into any sort of rhythm against second seeded Great Britain's Daniel Bethell, going down 8-21 10-21 in the men's singles SL3 class.</p>.<p>But he recovered quickly from the defeat to produce a superb show to claim the bronze.</p>.<p>Sarkar had taken up badminton at age five but it was the passion to win against his elder brothers which led him to play the sports seriously. He played inter-school competition against able-bodied players till the 11th grade before starting to compete in para badminton in 2011.</p>.<p>He won a gold medal in the SL3 singles at the 2016 Asian Championships in Beijing. In 2018, he received the Arjuna Award and a year later, he was named Para Sportsman of the Year at the Sportstar Aces Awards.</p>.<p>Earlier in the day, Suhas Yathiraj and Krishna Nagar also sailed into the men's singles finals of SL4 class and SH6 class respectively.</p>
<p>Reigning world champion Pramod Bhagat on Saturday claimed a historic gold medal in men's singles SL3 class while Manoj Sarkar bagged the bronze as India stamped their prowess at the Tokyo Paralympics here.</p>.<p>Bhagat beat Great Britain's Daniel Bethell in the summit clash while Sarkar defeated Japan's Daisuke Fujihara in the third place play-off, with both the Indians winning in straight games.</p>.<p>In SL3 classification, athletes with lower limb impairment are allowed to compete.</p>.<p>With badminton making its debut at the Paralympics this year, Bhagat, the current world No 1, thus became the first Indian to win a gold medal in the sport.</p>.<p>The top seeded Indian, also an Asian champion, showed great mental fortitude as he prevailed 21-14 21-17 over second seeded Bethell in a thrilling final that lasted 45 minutes at the Yoyogi National Stadium.</p>.<p>The 33-year-old from Bhubaneswar also remains in contention for a bronze medal in mixed doubles SL3-SU5 class.</p>.<p>Bhagat and his partner Palak Kohli will square off against Japanese pair of Daisuke Fujihara and Akiko Sugino in the bronze medal play off on Sunday.</p>.<p>They had lost the semifinals 3-21 15-21 to Indonesian combination of Hary Susanto and Leani Ratri Oktila earlier in the day.</p>.<p>Bhagat, who had contracted polio when he was 4 years old, picked up the sports after watching his neighbours play. Initially, he competed against able-bodied players before getting into competitive para badminton in 2006.</p>.<p>He eventually emerged as one of the best para shuttlers in the country with 45 international medals under his belt, including four world championship gold medals and a gold and a bronze in 2018 Asian Para Games.</p>.<p>He also had started his career as a badminton coach but took a break in 2019 to focus on Tokyo Paralympics qualification.</p>.<p>In 2019, he received the Arjuna Award and Biju Patnaik Award for Excellence in Sports in India.</p>.<p>The 31-year-old Sarkar, who whose right leg was affected after he contracted polio at age one, displayed great resilience during his 22-20 21-13 win over Fujihara.</p>.<p>In the semifinals, Sarkar couldn't get into any sort of rhythm against second seeded Great Britain's Daniel Bethell, going down 8-21 10-21 in the men's singles SL3 class.</p>.<p>But he recovered quickly from the defeat to produce a superb show to claim the bronze.</p>.<p>Sarkar had taken up badminton at age five but it was the passion to win against his elder brothers which led him to play the sports seriously. He played inter-school competition against able-bodied players till the 11th grade before starting to compete in para badminton in 2011.</p>.<p>He won a gold medal in the SL3 singles at the 2016 Asian Championships in Beijing. In 2018, he received the Arjuna Award and a year later, he was named Para Sportsman of the Year at the Sportstar Aces Awards.</p>.<p>Earlier in the day, Suhas Yathiraj and Krishna Nagar also sailed into the men's singles finals of SL4 class and SH6 class respectively.</p>