Korea’s Shin Kyung Hwan and Joo Dongjae won their first men’s doubles gold, defeating India’s Manoj Sarkar and Korea’s Cho Nadan, 19-21 21-19 21-16 in Standing Lower (SL3-SL4) at the 5^th Dubai Para Badminton International 2023.

“We’re so happy right now. Yesterday we beat Nitesh (Kumar) and Tarun and today this pair. Cho and Joo train together but it didn’t work to our advantage at first because Cho knows Joo too well. Somehow we managed to outdo them,” said Shin.

Nigeria’s Mariam Eniola Bolaji was another first-timer, with a 21-7 13-21 21-11 win over current World No. 1 Syakuroh Qonitah Ikthtiar (Indonesia) in the women’s singles SL3.

“I could never have imagined this gold. This final was the toughest because she (Syakuroh) just did not give me a chance. She has good balance and is all over the court,” said Bolaji.

Losing the second game just meant having to dig deep for the decider.

“I changed my strokes in the second. Don’t know what was going through my mind. Luckily Jeremiah (Nnanna) told me what I was doing wrong and I corrected it. I never thought my body was going to be pushed to such a limit but I went all out.”

Unable to hide her disappointment, Syakuroh said: “I have to accept that she was the better player today. She’s really fast and she confused me with her moves.”

Age Is Just Number

Like good wine, Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj, 40, believes he’s only getting better with age, and just in time for the world championships and Paris 2024 Paralympics.

“I had too many unforced errors in this match. No focus. My elbow hurt from yesterday so I wasn’t really at full throttle,” he said, settling for silver after losing 21-13 21-16 to Malaysia’s Mohd Amin Burhanuddin in the SL men’s singles.

Having not played much last year, Yathiraj’s ranking dropped to 39.

“I have managed to move up to third rank despite missing two tournaments this year but I’ve been consistent. Reaching a number of finals allowed me to move up but I’ve had to maintain an extreme level of fitness. My experience helps me play according to what each opponent throws at me.”

Another Setback for Bhagat

“It’s been a year of losses but it’s all on me. I’m not training as hard as I should,” said Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Pramod Bhagat (India).

Bhagat surrendered the Dubai men’s singles SL3 gold to England’s Daniel Bethell, losing 17-21 8-21.

“I haven’t been taking Bethell seriously. I can see his progress and I know I need to get back on track. I’ll have to start from the bottom again. I lack strength and stamina. I can no longer play my game where I like to stretch it out and take my time to win.

“Here I’ve noticed I’m having to finish in two games because if it goes too long I no longer have the strength to keep going.”

Bhagat also settled for silver in the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 when he and Manisha Ramdass (India) lost to Indonesia’s Hikmat Ramdani and Leani Ratri Oktila, 21-14 21-11.

Mixed Emotions for Oktila

In addition to her mixed doubles gold, Oktila goes home with a silver each from the women’s singles SL4 and women’s doubles SL3-SL4 with Khalimatus Saadiyah (Indonesia).

“I’m having to divide my priorities. I like the singles but the idea is for me to focus on mixed doubles, maybe because we can achieve more with that,” said Oktila after losing to China’s Cheng He Fang in the women’s singles, 21-15 21-10.

Oktila won the Tokyo 2020 mixed doubles gold with Hary Susanto.

With a new, younger partner Hikmat Ramdani, Oktila’s aim is the world championships.

“Hikmat is agile and quick but I’m the more mature one so we have our strengths and help each other.”

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