Tokyo Paralympics: Pramod Bhagat and Palak Kohli finish fourth at Tokyo Paralympics mixed doubles badminton

Indian para badminton pair of Pramod Bhagat and Palak Kohli lost to Japan's Daisuke Fujihara and Akiko Sugino 23-21, 21-19 in the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 bronze medal match at the Yoyogi National Stadium on Sunday at the Tokyo Paralympics. The Indian pair finishes at fourth place.

The Indian pair put up a spirited display in the first game going neck-to-neck against the Japanese duo. Despite trailing during the beginning, they recovered quickly with a provision partnership and that dragged the game into 20-20 deuce and eventually Fujihara and Sugino winning the first game at 23-21.

In the second game, the Indians against put up a close contest from the beginning. However, the Japanese held on to their lead. India picked up four consecutive points to level things at 10-10, but the Japanese duo had a slender lead of 11-10 at the halfway mark. Fujihara and Sugino paced up their lead when Pramod and Palak tried desperately to catch up. They squared up at 15-15 again. The intense match was built at 17-17 and went on 18-18, but the Japanese had the upper hand to win 21-19.

The Indian duo earlier lost 0-2 in the mixed doubles badminton SL3-SU5 semi-final match at the Yoyogi National Stadium on Saturday. The number one seed Leani Ratri Oktila and Hary Susanto of Indonesia defeated the Indians in straight games by 21-3 and 21-15 in just 20 minutes.