Two years since winning his first international medal here, promising Korean shuttler Cho Nadan returns to one of his favourite events – the Dubai 2025 Para Badminton International. This time, he has a goal to achieve – winning his first international gold medal.
Cho’s only international medal in his emerging career has been at the championships in Dubai in 2023 – he took a silver medal in men’s doubles Standing Lower (SL3- SL4) event.
Coming Sunday at the Shabab Al Ahli Club, the 22-year-old from Seoul wants to turn his silver medal to gold in men’s singles Standing Lower (SL4).
Cho Nadan and Sukant Kadam in action
His confidence stems from Thursday’s upset win over top seed and Asian Para Games medallist Sukant Kadam from India 21-13, 16-21, 21-18 in a thrilling Group A match.
“I have fond memories of Dubai, and I hope I can make it even more special by changing the colour of my medal here on Sunday,” said Cho.
“It was a tough game today – last time I played against (Sukant) Kadam I lost. So, I had analysed his matches and had my strategy coming into the game; I’m happy that I could executive my plans,” said Cho, whose first international was the Bahrain Para Badminton International 2023.
Cho, who wants to face French Paralympic icon Lucas Mazur in a major event, is focusing one tournament at a time and improve his rankings to qualify for the LA 2028 Paralympics – his long-term goal.
Cho and Lee Seunghu, however, lost their men’s doubles SL3-SL4 match against Umesh Vikram Kumar and Surya Kant Yadav 16-21, 17-21 but hoped to come back stronger in the knock-out stages.
Thrilling encounters
Much like Cho, compatriot Lee Jeongsoo displayed a powerful game in his third-round robin men’s singles Standing Upper (SU5) match.
Lee rallied from a game down to defeat Azerbaijan’s lone competitor in Dubai, Ibrahim Aliyev 17-21-17, 21-18, 21-19 in a thrilling Group F game.
In women’s Standing events, Ukrainian top seed Oksana Kozyna overcame an early setback to defeat her senior opponent Halime Yildiz, a three-time world championships medallist in three games 13-21, 21-16, 21-17.
Kozyna, the Tokyo 2022 world champion, fought back from a six-point deficit 6-12 to pull off an incredible 21-17 win.
Alrushaidi aims to improve
For the home side, Siham Alrusaidi lost her Group A WH2 Round three match against Emine Seçkin, former World Championships silver medallist, but the Emirati took back a lot of learning experiences.
“The championships have been a big learning. (Emine) Seckin is a champion and there was so much to learn from the game – technique, movements, training etc. I was amazed to see the flexibility of my opponent on the wheelchair. I hope to get control and adapt to my wheelchair soon,” said Alrushaidi who also played the mixed doubles WH1-WH2 group game alongside Jamal Al Bedwawi in the day.
Having been an international Para Athletics player in the past, Alrusaidi already has strong arms, and she seems to have picked up the game quite well in the past one year.
She plans to use the Dubai experience in her training aiming to focus on single and doubles tactics.
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