Ireland is certainly a lucky place for England’s Krysten Coombs who claimed his first international title since Dublin two years ago to climb up the Race To Tokyo rankings with victory in men’s singles Short Stature (SS6) at the FZ Forza Irish Para-Badminton International 2019 yesterday.

Coombs fought back from a game down to defeat the form player of the season Nagar Krishna of India 16-21 21-19 21-8.

“I feel emotional. It was this time two years ago that I last won an international tournament. And to beat Nagar, the best player in the world right now, it’s a lot to take in,” he told Badminton Europe.

Coombs came close to the title in Dubai, going down to the Indian 22-20 23-25 12-21. This time he was able to close it out in style.

“I came close in Dubai. So, to have made this one count is amazing,” he added.

“It’s massive. I have had a good start to the year and it could have been even better if not for the injury in Canada.”

It was another successful tournament for Indonesia with world No. 1 Leani Ratri Oktila claiming her second triple crown of the season and making it 10 titles so far in 2019.

Oktila and Hary Susanto continued their rivalry with Lucas Mazur and Faustine Noel in the mixed doubles (SL3 – SU5) winning 16-21 21-16 21-10 in 54 minutes.

Noel had this to say: “I feel frustrated right now. We are getting closer and closer to them but we let the second game slip away.

“Maybe mentally they have an advantage. More work is needed and we will be back fighting for the World Championships.”

Oktila’s countryman Dheva Anrimusthi has been equally impressive remaining undefeated in men’s singles Standing Upper (SU5) through four of the five events he has played.

He defeated Bartłomiej Mroz of Poland 14-21 21-10 21-12 plus added a third men’s doubles SU5 title of the season, this time with Hafizh Briliansyah Prawiranegara.

Korean legend Kim Jung Jun regained the ascendency in his ongoing battle with Chan Ho Yuen of Hong Kong claiming the men’s singles Wheelchair (WH1) in straight games.

With Bobby Griffen.

Finals

Wheelchair (WH) Events

MS WH 1: Lee Sam Seop (Korea) bt Jeong Jae Gun (Korea) 21-19 17-21 21-17

WS WH 1: Sarina Satomi (Japan) bt Karin Suter-Erath (Switzerland) 21-17 21-11

WS WH 2: Amnouy Wetwithan (Thailand) bt Yuma Yamazaki (Japan) 21-19 12-21 21-9

XD WH 1 – WH 2: Amir Levi/Nina Gorodetzky (Israel) bt Konstantin Afinogenov (Russia)/Emine Seckin (Turkey) 11-21 21-6 21-14

WD WH 1 – WH 2: Sarina Satomi/Yuma Yamazaki (Japan) bt Ikumi Fuke/Rie Ogura (Japan) 21-11 21-15

MD WH 1 – WH 2: Kim Jung Jun/Lee Sam Seop (Korea) bt Kornpeekanok Chatchai/Apichat Sumpradit (Thailand) 21-6 21-13

MS WH 2: Kim Jung Jun (Korea) bt Chan Ho Yuen (Hong Kong) 21-12 21-19

Standing Lower/Standing Upper (SL/SU)

MS SU 5: Dheva Anrimusthi (Indonesia) bt Bartłomiej Mroz (Poland) 14-21 21-10 21-12

WS SU 5: Ayako Suzuki (Japan) bt Cathrine Rosengren (Denmark) 21-13 21-7

MD SU 5: Dheva Anrimusthi/Hafizh Briliansyah Prawiranegara (Indonesia) bt Mohamad Faris Ahmad Azri/Like Hou Cheah (Malaysia) 21-19 21-19

XD SL 3 – SU 5: Hary Susanto/Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesia) bt Lucas Mazur/Faustine Noel (France) 16-21 21-16 21-10

MS SL 3: Pramod Bhagat (India) be Daniel Bethell (England) 21-17 17-21 21-10

WS SL 3: Parul Parmar (India) bt Halime Yildiz (Turkey) 21-13 21-2

WS SL 4: Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesia) bt Helle Sofie Sagoy (Norway) 14-21 21-12 21-11

MS SL 4: Lucas Mazur (France) bt Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj (India) 21-19 21-17

WD SL 3 – SU 5: Leani Ratri Oktila/Khalimatus Sadiyah Sukohandoko (Indonesia) bt Lenaig Morin/Faustine Noel (France) 21-11 21-18

MD SL 3 – SL 4: Pramod Bhagat/Manoj Sarkar (India) bt Kumar Nitesh/Tarun Tarun (India) 13-21 21-18 23-21

Short Stature (SS 6)

MS SS 6: Krysten Coombs (England) bt Nagar Krishna (India) 16-21 21-19 21-8

WS SS 6: Carmen Poveda Flores (Peru) bt Katherine Valli (USA) 21-8 21-13

WD SS 6: 1. Carmen Poveda Flores (Peru)/Katherine Valli (USA), 2. Rebecca Bedford (England)/Yasmina Eissa (Egypt)

XD SS 6: Nagar Krishna (India)/Katherine Valli (USA) bt Robert Laing (Scotland)/Rebecca Bedford (England) 21-19 21-18

MD SS 6: Chu Man Kai/Wong Chun Yim (Hong Kong) bt Isaak Dalglish (English)/Niall McVeigh (Ireland) 21-12 21-13

Race To Tokyo Standings – Singles

Race To Tokyo Standings – Doubles