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Tokyo 2020 Paralympics

Pramod Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar become first Paralympic medallists from Odisha and Uttarakhand

Pramod Bhagat wins the gold medal and Manoj Sarkar wins bronze in the men's singles SL3 badminton category at Tokyo Paralympics.

Pramod Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar
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Pramod Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar (Source: Getty Images)

By

The Bridge Desk

Updated: 4 Sep 2021 11:43 AM GMT

Indian para shuttlers created history on Saturday at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, winning the country's first-ever titles at Games.

Pramod Bhagat, who is ranked 1 in the world, clinched the coveted gold medal defeating Great Britain's Daniel Bethell in the final of Men's SIngles SL3 category by 21-14, 21-17 in a match that spanned 45 minutes.

On the other hand, Manoj Sarkar picked up the bronze medal after defeating Japan's Daisuke Fujihara 22-20, 21-13 in the same

Both the shuttles have achieved a unique feat for which their respective states could be proud of. While Bhagat becomes Odisha's first-ever Paralympic Games medal winner, Sarkar achieves the same feat on behalf of his state Uttarakhand.



Hailing from Attabira in Bargarh District of Odisha, Pramod comes from humble family background and belongs to a family of farmers. Pramod was infected with polio at the age of 5yrs. Multiple inadequate treatments caused deformity in his leg. He was always in love with sports and played a lot of sports in his childhood as his father supported him. He then started focusing on Badminton, and in 2002, while playing a District level tournament, he beat all able-bodied players. With the new feather to his crown, Bhagat has put himself in a position that no other para shuttler has ever reached. India's first-ever Paralympian gold medallist shuttler has now won all the major para badminton men's singles titles in the world.

Manoj Sarkar hails from Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. He started playing badminton by buying a second-hand racquet. He had earn money as a kid to buy badminton equipment. He told The Bridge before the Paralympics, "I used to stay in a joint family then and had three cousins of almost similar to my age. Once, someone bought badminton racquets for them, but not for me. I felt very bad and cried a lot. My mother felt bad and gave me 10 rupees, using which I bought a small secondhand racquet for myself."
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