National Para-Badminton Championship: Pramod Bhagat, India’s first-ever badminton gold medalist at the Paralympics, is relishing the “new experience” of playing in front of his home crowd in the ongoing Para-Badminton National championship here in Bhubaneswar. Pramod Bhagat on Saturday kicked off his campaign with a straight-sets (21-12, 21-18) win over Chandra Prakash. Having played across the world in different tournaments, it was a new experience for the local boy, who competed in the men’s singles SL3 category here at the Railway Indoor Stadium.
National Para-Badminton Championship: Tokyo gold medallist Pramod Bhagat excited to play in front of home crowd for the first time
“Feels nice to be back home and playing, this is my first match on my home ground in Odisha. This was a new experience, I had played across the world but it was something different when I walked out to play today in front of my local crowd,” Pramod told ANI after his win in the first match here.
The 4th National Para-Badminton Championship was inaugurated in a grand style with our fav #Olly being the special attraction!
With the support of DSYS, @paralympic_od & @ParalympicIndia are conducting this event in #Bhubaneswar.
Some glimpses from the celebrations. pic.twitter.com/4jBOdMzCs0
— Odisha Sports (@sports_odisha) December 24, 2021
National Para-Badminton Championship: The Tokyo Games gold medallist made a walk in the park during the first set but had to face a tough fight in the second essay. However, Pramod cited that he was just trying to get into the groove since it was his first match in the tournament.
“I was just getting into the groove hence in that process I lost some points and also since it was my first match here in the tournament, I was getting a hang of it,” said Pramod.
National Para-Badminton Championship: Tokyo gold medallist Pramod Bhagat excited to play in front of home crowd for the first time
“But then I got the momentum in the second half of the second set to make sure I win the game,” he added.
National Para-Badminton Championship: Tokyo Paralympics bronze medallist Manoj Sarkar also won his first game in the men’s singles SL3 category on Saturday. The duo will now be in action in the pre-quarter-finals of the ongoing Para-Badminton National Championship later in the day.
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