Paralympics: Bhagat, Suhas, Krishna enter badminton finals; Manoj, Tarun lose in semifinals
Tokyo(PTI): The Indian trioka of Pramod Bhagat, Suhas Yathiraj and Krishna Nagar sailed into the men's singles finals of the badminton event in their respective classifications at the Tokyo Paralympics here on Saturday.
Among other Indians in the fray, Manoj Sarkar and Tarun Dhillon suffered contrasting losses in their respective semifinal match. The duo will now play in the bronze medal play off.
The 33-year-old Bhagat, the current world no 1, secured a 21-11 21-16 win over Japan's Daisuke Fujihara in the first SL3 class semifinals that lasted 36 minutes.
The top seeded Indian, current world and Asian champion, will lock horns with Great Britain's Daniel Bethell in the summit clash later in the day.
In SL4 class, Suhas outwitted Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan 21-9 21-15 in 31 minutes in the first semifinal.
The Noida District Magistrate will face top seed Lucas Mazur of France in the final on Sunday.
Krishna, seeded second, also dished out a superlative performance, outplaying Great Britain's Krysten Coombs 21-10 21-11 in the SH6 class semifinals.
The 22-year-old Indian will cross swords with Hong Kong's Chu Man Kai in the final on Sunday.
In the other SL4 class semifinal, Mazur managed to stave off a spirited effort from Tarun, claiming a narrow 21-16 16-21 21-18 win over the second seeded Indian in a gruelling semifinal that lasted an hour and three minutes at the Yoyogi National Stadium.
The 27-year-old from Hisar will face Setiawan in the bronze medal play off on Sunday.
Manoj too couldn't get into any sort of rhythm against second seeded Bethell, going down 8-21 10-21 in the other men's singles SL3 class semifinals.
The 31-year-old will now play Fujihara in the bronze medal play-off later in the day.
Earlier in the day, with only half of the court being used in SL3 classification, Bhagat and Fujihara engaged in a lot of long rallies and the Indian came up on top most of the time.
Bhagat, the top seed, trailed 2-4 early in the opening game but a series of overhead drops helped him claw back. The duo were 8-8 before the Indian entered the interval at 11-8.
After the break, he continued his good run and eventually pocketed the opening game with six straight points.
It was a Bhagat show in the second game as well as the Indian led all the way to come up trumps.
Bhagat will pair up with Palak Kohli for their mixed doubles SL3-SU5 semifinals later in the day.
"It was a great game against Fujihara, he pushed me with some great shots. But I had a plan and I executed it very well. I am happy I have reached my maiden Paralympic finals but the work is not done yet," said Bhagat after his match.
In SL classification, persons with standing/lower limb impairment/severe are allowed to compete. SH6 classification refers to short stature impairment.
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8 cheetahs from Africa to arrive at MP's Kuno National Park on Saturday
Sheopur (MP) (PTI): Eight more cheetahs will be airlifted from Africa and brought to Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday morning, an official said on Friday.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav will release the big cats into enclosures readied at the park under the ongoing cheetah revival programme in India via intercontinental translocations, he added.
The batch from Botswana, comprising six females and two males, will fly to Gwalior between 9 pm and 10 pm on an Indian Air Force aircraft, Cheetah Project Director Uttam Sharma told PTI.
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From Gwalior, two IAF helicopters will transport the cheetahs to Kuno National Park, where they are expected to arrive between 9 am and 10 am on Saturday. The flight duration from Botswana to Gwalior will be around nine to 10 hours, he said.
This will be the third batch of cheetahs arriving from Africa, following earlier introductions from Namibia and South Africa, he added.
With this, the number of cheetahs in India will rise to 46.
Sharma said enclosures have been prepared at the park, where the cheetahs will remain in quarantine for about a month.
The park has five helipads to facilitate their safe landing, he added.
Like the last time, the IAF will assist the cheetah revival programme by bringing them from Africa, just as it did when transporting the cursorial animal from SA in February 2023, Sharma said.
Earlier, eight cheetahs were brought from Namibia to Gwalior on a private jet in September 2022, after which IAF helicopters transported them to the park, he said.
"The arrival of more cheetahs will strengthen India's cheetah revival programme. With the support of the central government, we aim to increase the population to 50 as soon as possible," Sharma said.
Three big cats were later relocated to Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, while 35 remain at Kuno National Park, he said.
According to officials, endangered animals are not kept in a single habitat due to the risk of disease outbreaks that can wipe out their entire population at one go.
The cheetah, the world's fastest land animal, became extinct in India nearly seven decades ago.
Last year, India saw the birth of 12 cubs, though six, including three cubs, did not survive. This year, between February 7 and February 18, eight cubs were born in two litters.
In all, 39 cubs have been born at KNP since 2023, of which 27 have survived.
Namibia-born Jwala and Aasha, South Africa-born Gamini, Veera and Nirva, and India-born Mukhi have all produced litters at KNP, officials said.
Three cheetahs have been moved to Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Mandsaur district, while 35 remain at KNP, they added.
