Nagoya: India’s Thulasimathi Murugesan and Manasi Joshi clinched the gold medal in the Women’s Doubles SL3-SU5 category at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games.
The Indian duo defeated reigning World Champions Qiuxia Yang and Zuxian Xiao of China in straight games, 21-16 and 21-13 to avenge their loss in the 2025 Asian Championships final to claim the coveted medal.
With this medal, Thulasimathi & Manasi upgrade their silver from the previous edition to gold.
Earlier in the day, Thulasimathi teamed up with Nitesh Kumar to bag silver in the Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5. The Indian pair lost 21-11, 19-21, 14-21 to Indonesia’s Leani Ratri Oktila and Hikmat Ramdani in the final.
Thulasi also bagged a silver medal in the women’s singles SU5 after losing to Yang of China 21-18, 21-21-11 in the final.
India’s Naveen Sivakumar and Nitesh Kumar clinched gold medals in men’s singles SL3 and SL4 categories, respectively. Nitesh defeated compatriot Pramod Bhagat, who had won gold in the 2018 and 2022 editions, 21-18, 21-16 in the all-India final between two Paralympic champions.
In another match, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan signed off with silver after losing 12-21, 13-21 to China’s Li Fengmei in the women’s singles SH6 final.
In para badminton, SL3 is for players with significant lower-limb impairments who compete on a half court, while SL4 is for athletes with lower-limb impairments who have better walking and running balance. SU5 is for players with upper-limb impairments, while SH6 is for athletes with short stature.
India arrived in Aichi-Nagoya after their best-ever Asian Para Games campaign at Hangzhou 2023, where Indian athletes won a record 111 medals – 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze – to finish fifth overall.
India are fourth in the Asian Para Games 2026 medals tally with 106 medals – 28 gold, 34 silver and 44 bronze.
–IANS–
