Thailand’s Natthapong Meechai was the standout player at the HULIC DAIHATSU Japan Para Badminton International 2023, winning two close finals in the tournament that concluded in Tokyo on Sunday.
While Meechai took home two titles in the Short Stature (SH6) class, accomplished Chinese wheelchair players Qu Zi Mo (WH1) and Liu Yu Tong (WH2) too returned with a double.
Meechai won a close singles contest over Hong Kong China’s Chu Man Kai 17-21 21-6 21-19 before returning for the mixed doubles final with Chai Saeyang to beat China’s Lin Naili/Li Fengmei in a pulsating third game, 21-18 11-21 22-20.
Liu Yu Tong and Yin Meng Lu
Liu Yu Tong and Qu Zi Mo expectedly dominated their categories. Liu Yu Tong claimed the women’s singles WH2 easily beating Li Hongyan 21-10 21-10; she returned for the WH1-WH2 doubles with Yin Meng Lu and enjoyed another comfortable outing, taking the title over Fan Chaoyue/Li Hongyan 21-9 21-14.
Similarly, Qu Zi Mo was dominant in the men’s singles WH1 final over Malaysia’s Muhammad Ikhwan Ramli, 21-9 21-9, and in the WH1-WH2 final with Mai Jian Peng as the Chinese duo beat Japan’s Takumi Matsumoto/Keita Nishimura 21-4 21-15.
Highlights
China and India dominated the event – while China won eight gold, India took home four gold.
Indonesia’s Standing Lower (SL4) player Leani Ratri Oktila returned with a complete set of medals – gold in the mixed doubles (with Hikmat Ramdani), silver in women’s doubles (with Khalimatus Sadiyah Sukohandoko) and bronze in women’s singles SL4.
Other teams to win gold were Japan (Sarina Satomi, Daiki Kajiwara); Malaysia (Mohd Amin Burhanuddin) and Chinese Taipei (Fang Jen-Yu). The Hong Kong China-Belgium pair of Chan Ho-Yuen Daniel/Man-Kei To won mixed doubles gold in WH1-WH2.
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