Home players dominated the HULIC DAIHATSU Japan Para Badminton International 2024, winning 10 of the 20 titles at stake in Tokyo.
India also had a successful tournament, finishing with six gold medals.
The most striking result of finals day was Daisuke Fujihara’s upset of Paralympic champion Kumar Nitesh in men’s singles Standing Lower (SL3). In a thrilling third game, Fujihara built a 15-9 lead, only for Nitesh to gradually draw closer and level at 18. Fujihara however edged ahead to take the title in 99 minutes: 21-16 18-21 21-19. This was Fujihara’s first win over Nitesh in over five years and after eight consecutive losses.
Sarina Satomi
For Japan, Olympic champions Daiki Kajiwara and Sarina Satomi delivered with a double, as did compatriots Yuma Yamazaki, Taiyo Imai and Hiroshi Murayama. Wheelchair (WH2) star Kajiwara easily won his singles over compatriot Takumi Matsumoto before partnering Hiroshi Murayama for WH1-WH2 doubles gold over Matsumoto/Keita Nishimura in two tight games.
Similarly, home icon Sarina Satomi eased past Cynthia Mathez in the women’s singles WH1 final, and then combined with Yuma Yamazaki for WH1-WH2 gold over Poland’s Natalia Grzyb/Anna Wolny.
Taiyo Imai won the men’s singles Standing Upper (SU5) gold beating India’s Hardik Makkar after he and Noriko Ito had captured the mixed doubles (SL3-SU5) title earlier in the day.
Solaimalai Nets Double
Sivarajan Solaimalai
For India, Sivarajan Solaimalai starred with a double in Short Stature (SH6). Solaimalai got the better of Hong Kong China’s Wong Chun Yim 21-16 21-16 in the men’s singles final and prevailed in the doubles SH6 with Sudarsan Saravanakumar Muthusamy with an all-win record in their group.
The only loss for a home player in the finals came in women’s singles SU5, with India’s Manisha Ramdass beating Mamiko Toyoda 21-12 21-18.
Among other players to top the podium were Poland’s Oliwia Szmigiel (women’s singles SH6), France’s Coraline Bergeron (women’s singles SL3), Hong Kong China’s Chu Man Kai/Choi Wing Kei (mixed doubles SH6), and Jaime Aranguiz (Chile)/Man-Kei To (Belgium) in mixed doubles WH1-WH2.
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