Pramod Bhagat spearheaded India’s dominant campaign at Japan Para Badminton International 2025, clinching three gold medals to lead the overall winners’ tally in Shizuoka.
After a below-par outing at last week’s Indonesia Para Badminton International, Bhagat bounced back in style with victories in SL3 men’s singles, SL3-SL4 men’s doubles (with Sukant Kadam) and SL3-SU5 mixed doubles (with Manisha Ramdass).
His standout performance came in the singles final, where he staged a thrilling comeback to defeat local favourite Daisuke Fujihara 17-21 21-19 21-10 in a gruelling 93-minute encounter. The doubles finals were won against Indian pairs.
It helped India return home with nine gold – with Manasi Joshi/Thulasimathi Murugesan (SL3-SU5 women’s doubles), Naveen Sivakumar (SL4 men’s singles), Nagar Krishna (SH6 men’s singles) and Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan (SH6 women’s singles) among the other winners. Murugesan also triumphed in SU5 women’s singles while Nagar and Sumathy Sivan teamed up to claim the SH6 mixed doubles crown.
Hosts Japan secured second place with four gold, led by superstar Daiki Kajiwara, who extended his remarkable two-year unbeaten streak in WH2 men’s singles. Kajiwara, whose last loss came in December 2023 in the Dubai Para Badminton International quarterfinals, comprehensively defeated Rick Cornell Hellmann 21-6 21-6 in the final.
Kajiwara also struck gold in the WH1-WH2 men’s doubles with Keita Nishimura, joining Xu Tingting of China and Cheah Liek Hou of Malaysia as the only non-Indian players to secure double titles.
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