Paris Paralympics: Sukant Kadam loses to Indonesia’s Fredy in bronze medal match

Paris: On a very successful day for India in badminton which saw the country win four medals on Monday, Sukant Kadam’s hopes of winning a medal in his Paralympics debut ended in a setback as he lost 0-2 to Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan in the Men’s Singles SL4 bronze medal match.

Setiawan took the early lead in the encounter and built a 13-8 advantage by the mid-game interval and despite a fightback, which saw Kadam close the gap to 17-18, the Indonesian eventually lost the first game 17-21.

Kadam’s start in the second game was much better than the first but he was not able to withstand pressure from the Indonesian and found himself trailing by the mid-game interval. Kadam’s repeated attempts to get back into the game were shut down by Frede as the Indian lost 18-21 in the second match.

Kadam’s journey into the final has not been an easy one. His very first match in the singles category saw him square up against Malaysia’s Mohd Amin Burhanuddin in a gruelling encounter that lasted 61 minutes.

Sukant, making his Paralympics debut on the night, won the contest 2-1 before defeating Thailand’s Siripong Teamarrom in a relatively easy encounter considering it concluded in less than half the time of the opening match (25 minutes).

After the two opening wins against Asian opponents, Kadam found himself in a matchup against compatriot and 2020 Tokyo silver medallist Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj. But he fell to the 41-year-old veteran with a final score of 0-2.

Setiawan on the other hand also won both his Group C games against Nigheria’s Chigozie Jeremiah Nnanna and Germany’s Marcel Adam 2-0 which saw him seal a spot in the semifinals where he lost in straight games against Tokyo 2020 gold medallist, Lucas Mazur.

Monday was quite productive for India as Nitesh Kumar clinched the gold medal, Thulasimathi Murugesan won the silver and Manisha Ramadass secured the bronze medal in the Women’s Singles SU5 category. Suhas Yathiraj secured a silver medal for India in the Men’s Singles SL4 category earlier on Monday.

–IANS