Sarina Satomi battled from a game down to beat Thailand’s Sujirat Pookkham and claim the WH1 women’s singles crown on a busy day of finals action at the 4 Nations Para Badminton International 2023.
In a rematch of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games final, world No.1 Satomi saw off her Thai opponent 19-21 21-10 21-13.
That was the first of two crowns for the Japanese, joining forces with Yuma Yamazaki to beat Pookham and Amnouy Wetwithan 21-13 21-14 in the WH1-2 women’s doubles final.
It was also a day of double delight for Yamazaki who beat Peru’s Pilar Jauregui Cancino WH2 women’s singles final.
Joining Satomi and Yamazaki in claiming a double was Choi Jung Man, with the Korean defeating Malaysia’s Muhammad Ikhwan Ramli 21-16 21-12 in WH1 men’s singles before proving the most decisive man on court in the WH1-2 men’s doubles final alongside Kim Jungjun in their 21-18 19-21 21-16 win over Daiki Kajiwara and Hiroshi Murayama.
“I did my best at this competition. I was injured before the tournament but I’m recovering well. I’m happy with my overall performance here,” said Choi.
Choi narrowly missed the treble with Jauregui and Italy’s Yuri Ferrigno getting over the line in the WH1-2 mixed final 13-21 21-19 21-18.
Elsewhere, Daniel Bethell gave home fans something to cheer about storming to a convincing SL3 men’s singles gold.
The world No.1 downed great rival and Paralympic champion Pramod Bhagat 21-8 21-10 to cement his dominance in the class.
“I’m elated with how I played. I thought that was one of the best matches I’ve played in a long time,” said Bethell.
“Pramod, he’s such a great champion, we have such a big rivalry. I think that was our 16th meeting and we’ve played 14 finals. I knew it was going to be a competitive match and I was really happy with how I played.”
There was disappointment for the other English players, with Nagar Krishna beating Krysten Coombs in the SH6 men’s singles final, and Rachel Choong and Jack Shephard falling to Subhan Subhan and Rina Marlina in the SH6 mixed doubles.
For Nagar, it was a return to his best after taking most of 2022 off following his Tokyo 2020 triumph.
“This week was very important because last year I hardly played any tournament due to injury and personal issues. I’m happy with my comeback but I want to prove myself again,” said Nagar.
Marlina was also victorious in her singles final, beating Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan in straight games to take home two gold medals.
*Reporting with Badminton England