Odia paralympian and world number-1 shuttler, Pramod Bhagat started his campaign with a victory against compatriot Manoj Sarkar at Tokyo Paralympics on Wednesday.
Bhagat (33) defeated Sarkar, who is ranked-3, in 21-10, 21-23, 21-9 sets in the Men’s Badminton SL3 Singles league match that lasted 56 minutes.
Bhagat faces Ukraine’s O. Chyrkov on Thursday afternoon. He hopes to win the second match to book a spot in the semi-finals.
Earlier in the day, Bhagat and Palak Koli lost their first mixed doubles match to France’s Lucas Mazur and Faustine Noel in 9-21, 21-15, 19-21 sets in the Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5 Group B match. The pair has to win their next match tomorrow to remain in semi-final race.