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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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
