Asian Para Games: Suhas LY, Krishna Nagar and Bhavina Patel start with wins as India register strong results in badminton and para table tennis.
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Suhas ly (R) and Krishna Nagar (L) (Image: Anurag Thakur/X/ AFP)
India’s para-athletes made a positive start at the Asian Para Games 2026, with badminton stars Suhas LY and Krishna Nagar and table tennis player Bhavina Patel among those registering opening-day victories on FridaySeveral other Indian players also advanced with wins in their respective events, while the country suffered a few defeats in badminton.
Suhas, a two-time Paralympic silver medallist and defending Asian Para Games champion, defeated Bangladesh’s Joytu Dhar in straight games in the men’s singles SL4 Group E matchThe Indian won 21-8, 21-11 to begin his campaign in convincing fashion.
Suhas LY and Krishna Nagar shine in Badminton
Suhas, an IAS officer, has won silver medals at the Tokyo and Paris Paralympics and claimed gold at the previous Asian Para GamesHe will look to build on that success as he begins his title defence.
India’s Abhijeet Sakhuja also secured a win in men’s singles SL4, beating Chinese Taipei’s En-chuan Yeh 21-17, 21-12.
Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist Krishna Nagar started his men’s singles SH6 Group C campaign with a dominant 21-5, 21-4 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Jia-siang LingSivarajan Solaimalai also won his opening SH6 Group D match, defeating the Philippines’ John Cyrus Maclang 21-7, 21-6.
In mixed doubles SL3-SU5, Manisha Ramdass and Pramod Bhagat beat China’s Lichuan Xiong and Tongtong Li 21-16, 19-21, 21-16However, Manasi Joshi and Ruthick Raghupati lost their opening match 15-21, 4-21 to Indonesia’s Khalimatus Sadiyah and Fredy Setiawan.
Former world champion Manasi Joshi also suffered a defeat in women’s singles SL3 Group A, going down 15-21, 21-14, 15-21 to China’s Yuemei LiuSanjana Kumari, meanwhile, began her SL3 campaign with a 21-4, 21-6 win over Hong Kong’s Chai Saeyang.
Bhavina Patel leads India’s winning start in Para Table Tennis
India also enjoyed success in para table tennis, with Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist Bhavina Patel winning her opening women’s singles Class 4-5 Group A matchShe defeated Kuwait’s Ahad Alrasheedi 3-0, with game scores of 11-6, 11-3, 11-6.
Baby Sahana Ravi recorded another straight-game win, beating Vietnam’s Thi Hoa Phuong Nguyen 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 in women’s singles Class 9 Group B.
Shubham Wadhwa also began his men’s singles Class 3 campaign with a 3-0 victory over Nepal’s Keshav ThapaWadhwa won 11-6, 11-4, 11-9.
Jehan Madan completed another Indian success in men’s singles Class 1, defeating compatriot Sandeep Dangi 11-8, 12-10, 10-12, 11-6.
The opening results gave India several encouraging performances across badminton and para table tennis as the athletes continued their campaigns at the continental event.
India men’s blind football team lose 0-2 to South Korea in opener
India began their men’s blind football campaign at the Asian Para Games with a 0-2 defeat against South Korea on FridayJang Yeongjun scored twice for the South Korean side, finding the net once in each half to help his team secure the win in the preliminary round.
India will now look to bounce back when they face hosts Japan on SaturdayThe upcoming match will be important for the Indian team as it aims to recover from its opening defeat and stay in contention for a medal.
South Korea controlled the scoring with Yeongjun’s two goals proving decisiveIndia were unable to find a breakthrough and ended the match without getting on the scoreboard.
The Indian team will need a strong response against Japan as the preliminary round continuesAlong with India, South Korea and hosts Japan, China, Iran and Thailand are also competing in the event.
The teams will battle for three medals, with the top two sides from the preliminary round advancing to the gold-medal matchThe teams finishing third and fourth will meet in the bronze-medal contest.
