Indian team end their 2022 Spanish Para Badminton International campaign with 21 medals 

It was a successful outing for the top Indian para-shuttlers Pramod Bhagat, Sukant Kadam, Manasi Joshi and Nithya Sre, as the Indian contingent swept a whopping 21 medals at the Spanish Para Badminton International in Cartagena, Spain.

2021 Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist Pramod Bhagat swept two medals at the para badminton tournament. The 33-year-old bagged a silver medal in the men’s singles SL3 division and settled for bronze in the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 category at the 2022 Spanish Para Badminton International.

Pramod suffered a straight-sets defeat at the hands of world No. 2 Daniel Bethell in a match that lasted 39 minutes.

Speaking about the tournament, Pramod seemed disappointed about not finishing on top. Pramod Bhagat said:

"It was a tough week and I couldn't execute what I had planned for. I have identified my mistakes and will start working on them immediately. I am going to head straight back into training and focus on my upcoming tournaments."

Meanwhile, world No. 2 Sukant Kadam lost to world No. 1 Lucas Mazur of France in a match that lasted 50 minutes. The thrilling contest came to an end when Mazur managed to edge Sukant in the decider with a 21-19, 19-21, 12-21 scoreline.

Speaking about the tough contest, Sukant Kadam said:

"I had a decent run in the tournament and pushed Mazur to his limits but came short. I am sure I will work on the mistakes from this game and be ready for the next tournament."

Both Pramod and Sukant showcased incredible performances at the Spanish Para Badminton International in Vitoria. Pramod Bhagat won three gold medals while Sukant Kadam ended his campaign with one gold and silver medal each.

Indian para badminton contingent's medal tally

The Indian para badminton contingent bagged as many as 21 medals (6 gold medals, 7 silver medals and 8 bronze medals) at the (level I) Cartagena event.

Earlier, team India clinched 34 medals (11 golds, 7 silvers and 16 bronze medals) at the (level II) Spanish Para-Badminton International.

Indian contingent's 21 medals at the Spanish Para-Badminton International (Level I) event:

Gold Medals: Manasi Joshi (Women's Singles SL3), Raj/Parul (Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5), Chirag/Raj (Men's Doubles SU5) and Nitesh/Tarun (Men's Doubles SL3-SL4), Nithya Sre (Women's Singles SH6), Raja/Krishna (Men's Doubles SH6).

Silver Medals: Pramod Bhagat (Men's Singles SL3), Krishna Nagar (Men's Singles SH6), Ruthick/Manasi (Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5), Hardik/Ruthik (Men's Doubles SU5) and Pramod/Manoj (Men's Doubles SL3-SL4), Mandeep Kaur (Women's Singles SL3), Tarun Dhillon (Men's Singles SL4).

Bronze Medals: Manoj Sarkar (Men's Singles SL3), Nitesh Kumar (Men's Singles SL3), Parul Parmar (Women's Singles SL3), Arwaz/Deep (Men's Doubles SL3-SL4), Pramod/Palak (Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5), Nilesh Gaikwad (Men's Singles SL4), Sukant Kadam (Men's Singles SL4), and Prem Ale/Abu Hubaida (Men's Doubles WH1-WH2).