The Indian contingent at the Deaflympics 2021 got off the mark on Day 3 with two golds and one bronze medal. Dhanush Srikanth won the top prize in the men’s 10m air rifle event, sharing the podium with bronze medallist Shourya Saini. Later in the day, the badminton squad beat Japan 3-1 in the team final to win gold.
The two gold medals ensure that the team from this edition of the Deaflympics, held in Caxias do Sul in Brazil, have gone one better than the gold medals won at the previous edition in Turkey in 2017.
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Dhanush shot a score of 623.3 in the qualification event, finishing second behind Korean shooter Kim Woo Rim, who scored 625.1. Saini meanwhile finished in the third position with 622.7 to ensure two Indians made it to the final.
In the finals too, the same qualification positions were mirrored as Kim maintained a lead over the two Indians until the 18th shot, when Dhanush, who had been clawing his way back into the match, took the lead, not allowing the Korean a chance back.
Saini meanwhile won the bronze after holding onto third position throughout the match.
Badminton team makes it two
The Indian team got the better of Turkey and then Chinese Taipei – by identical 3-1 scorelines – to make their way to the gold-medal match against Japan.
The start wasn’t favourable though, as Japan took the first point in the best-of-five-point format. The Japanese mixed doubles team of Masaaki Numakura and Chihiro Namakura beat Abhinav Sharma and Aaditya Yadav in straight sets.
In the second match, Jerlin Jayaratchagan levelled proceedings after coming from behind to beat Mai Yakabe 17-21, 21-11, 21-15 in the women’s singles match.
Sharma then got back onto the court to claim a straight-games win in the men’s singles, and then Yadav and Jerlin paired up to win the women’s doubles match to ensure gold.
This is the second gold medal for India at this year’s edition, after the contingent won one gold, one silver and three bronze in 2017.
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