India at Asian Para Games 2026 Day 1: Suhas makes winning start

Suhas, an IAS officer who won silver medals in Tokyo and Paris Paralympics besides gold in the last Asian Para Games, defeated Bangladesh’s Joytu Dhar 21-8 21-11. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Two-time Paralympics silver-medallist shuttler Suhas Yathiraj started his Asian Para Games campaign with a resounding straight-game win over Bangladesh’s Joytu Dhar in the men’s singles SL4 Group E match here on Friday.

Suhas, an IAS officer who won silver medals in Tokyo and Paris Paralympics besides gold in the last Asian Para Games, defeated Dhar 21-8 21-11.

Also winning in the men’s singles SL4 category was Abhijeet Sakhuja, who beat Chinese Taipei’s En-chuan Yeh 21-17 21-12.

SL4 is a standing sport class in para badminton for athletes with lower-limb impairments.

Tokyo Olympics gold-medallist and Asian Para Games silver-medallist Krishna Nagar also made a positive start, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Jia-siang Ling 21-5 21-4 in his opening men’s singles SH6 Group C match.

Another Indian in SH6 category, Sivarajan Solaimalai, also won his first Group D match against Philippines’ John Cyrus Maclang 21-7 21-6.

Nagar and Solaimalai then paired up only to lose 10-21 12-21 against Chun yim Yong and Man Kai Chu of Hong Kong in men’s doubles SH6 match.

Nagar later teamed up with Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan to get the better of Malaysia’s Nurzammiezatul B Mohamad and Muhammad Amin Bin Azmi 21-7 21-7 in mixed doubles SH6 group match.

SH6 is for players with short stature (such as achondroplasia or related genetic conditions).

In a mixed doubles SL3-SU5 Group A match, the Indian pair of Manisha Ramdass and Pramod Bhagat got the better of China’s Lichuan Xiong and Tongtong Li 21-16 19-21 21-16.

Manasi Joshi and Ruthick Raghupati, however, lost 15-21 4-21 to Khalimatus Sadiyah and Fredy Setiawan of Indonesia in their opening group match.

Mansi and her partner Thulasimathi Murugesan came from a game down to beat Indonesia’s Warining Rahayu and Qonitah Ikhtiar Syakuroh 21-10 21-12 in women’s doubles SL3-SU5 match.

The SL3-SU5 category combines standing lower-limb impairment (SL3) and standing upper-limb impairment (SU5) classes.

In women’s singles SL3 category, former world champion Manasi Joshi lost 15-21 21-14 15-21 to Yuemei Liu of China in her opening Group A match.

Sanjana Kumari won her opening SL3 group match, beating Hong Kong’s Chai Saeyang 21-4 21-6.

SL3 is a classification for athletes with lower-limb impairments, including amputees, who experience poor walking or running balance.

In a men’s singles WH2 group match, India’s Abu Hubaida lost to China’s Jianpeng mai 11-21 9-21, while compatriot Prem Kumar Ale defeated Indonesia’s Agung Widodo 18-21 21-15 21-16.

In mixed doubles WH1-WH2 category, Ale and Alphia James were defeated 15-21 9-21 by Chinese pair of Mai and Menglu Yin.

In women’s singles WH2 division, James later lost 8-21 5-21 against Yutong Lu of China, while Hubaida and Ale combination suffered 4-21 2-21 against Saudi Arabia’s Mahdi Almakinah and Essam Buayti.

WH1 players have impairments in both lower limbs and trunk function, and must use a wheelchair to play, while in WH2 players have impairments in one or both lower limbs with minimal or no trunk impairment, and must use a wheelchair to play.

Paddler Bhavina Patel starts strong

Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist Bhavina Patel made a winning start to her Asian Para Games campaign, defeating Kuwait’s Ahad Alrasheedi in her opening match in the women’s para table tennis competition here on Friday.

Bhavina beat her Kuwaiti opponent 3-0 (11-6 11-3 11-6) in the women’s singles Class 4-5 Group A match.

Class 4 and Class 5 in para table tennis represent the higher-functioning tiers among wheelchair athletes (Classes 1–5), where players have varying degrees of sitting balance and core or arm control.

Baby Sahana Ravi also defeated Vietnam’s Thi Hoa Phuong Nguyen 3-0 (11-6 11-5 11-4) in her women’s singles Class 9 Group B match.

Indian para table tennis player Bhavina Patel | Photo Credit: The Hindu Photo Library

Class 9 in para table tennis is a standing sports class for athletes with mild physical impairments affecting their legs or playing arm, or severe impairments of their non-playing arm.

Shubham Wadhwa also won his opening men’s singles Class 3 group match, defeating Nepal’s Keshav Thapa 3-0 (11-6 11-4, 11-9). Class 3 in para table tennis is a wheelchair sport class for athletes who have no sitting balance, minimal trunk control and normal or near-normal arm and hand function.

Another Indian para athlete, Jehan Madan, made a bright start, beating compatriot Sandeep Dangi 3-1 (11-8 12-10 10-12 11-6) in men’s singles Class 1 group match.

Class 1 is the most severe sitting wheelchair class, designated for players who have no sitting balance and a severe reduction of function in their playing arm, typically due to a spinal-cord lesion or polio.