Amonrat Jamporn‘s first ever World Championships win in SL3 women’s singles couldn’t have come at a better place.

Though she plays for Australia, Jamporn was born in Thailand, where the NSDF ROYAL BEACH CLIFF BWF Para Badminton World Championships 2024 is being held.

“I’m so happy it happened on the biggest stage I’ve played on,” exclaimed Jamporn after beating Kamtam Wandee 21-15 18-21 21-15 in Group F.

“I’ve really enjoyed playing in Thailand and it’s great for me that the tournament is in Thailand. My grandparents and mum are here and my brother drove 10 hours to see me play. I can have a small celebration with my family.”

Jamporn moved to Australia in 2014 and has been playing badminton for several years. A year later, she was involved in a motorbike accident while in Thailand, resulting in the loss of her left leg above the knee. After learning to walk on prosthetic leg, she returned to the court to try Para badminton. Starting with local tournaments in 2018, she went on to become an international the following year.

“I love playing. I need to juggle training with looking after my two children. They are 13 and six. My daughter calls me ‘super woman’. She tells everyone what I do and that I compete in badminton tournaments abroad. If I win a medal, I will dedicate it to her,” said Jamporn.

Jamporn needs a win against fifth seed Zuxian Xiao in her next match to secure a quarterfinal spot in Pattaya. This will be their first encounter.

“This was an important win after I losing my first match (to Charanjeet Kaur), but I learned a lot from that and got used to the court conditions. It’s important to stay consistent and calm to continue winning.”

→ Results (Day 2)

→ Order of play (Day 3)

WHAT OTHERS SAID:

“I practice with the junior team in the Maldives. It’s the best sport. I started playing after watching my idol Krysten Coombs. I saw him play at Tokyo 2020 and that’s when I decided to take up para badminton. I’ve met him twice and he was really flattered when I told him.” – Hawwa Eshal Riyaz on her journey

“It’s a mixture of nerves, fun and excitement. I’ve made a lot of friends from other countries including Brazil and Cameroon. It’s great to meet so many people and I’m glad I changed Para sports from tennis to badminton. It was the right decision.” – Iraqi Ali Alasadi on making his World Championships debut after being introduced to the sport by his teammate

“We were lucky to come through that match. In the second game I made a few errors on my attack and couldn’t make good progress. But we won in the end and that makes us happy. The key to victory was positive thinking.” – Daisuke Fujihara after he and Akiko Sugino (SL3-SU5) survived their first big test with a 21-6 24-22 win over home hopes Chawat Kitichokwattana/Chinida Srinavakul