Pramod Bhagat defeated a familiar rival in Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara on Saturday in Tokyo to set up an all-Indian men’s singles SL3 final against Nitesh Kumar that assured India of at least one World Champion at BWF Para Badminton World Championships 2022.

Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist Bhagat has a chance to repeat his 2019 feat of winning both singles and doubles Worlds titles. He reached the final of men’s doubles SL3-SL4 alongside Manoj Sarkar.

Sarkar, who had won bronze in Tokyo, lost out against Nitesh Kumar in the men’s singles SL3 semifinal.

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Also reaching the final was Manisha Ramadass in women’s singles SU5.

On Saturday, multiple bronze medals were confirmed for Indian shuttlers. Manasi Joshi and Parul Parmar, who were finalists in 2019 in Basel, finished with a bronze each after defeats in the semifinals.

Krishna Nagar, Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist in SH6, missed out on the podium in singles after a quarterfinals defeat but clinched bronze in mixed doubles alongside Nithya Sre. Manisha also added a bronze to her kitty in women’s doubles alongside Mandeep Kaur.

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Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan won three bronze medals to her name.

Confirmed bronze medallists: 

Krishna Nagar/Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan (XD SH6)

Ruthick Ragupathi / Manasi Joshi (XD-SL3-SU5)

Manoj Sarkar (MS-SL3)

Sukant Kadam (MS-SL4)

Manasi Joshi (WS-SL3)

Parul Parmar (WS-SL3)

Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan (WS-SH6)

Chirag Baretha / Raj Kumar (MD-SU5)

Hardik Makkar / Ruthick Ragupathi (MD-SU5)

Mandeep Kaur and Manisha Ramadass (WD-SL 3-SU 5)

Rachana Shaileshkumar Patel and Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan (WD-SH6)

Latatai Parmeshwar Umrekar (along with Thailand’s Chai Saeyang) (WD-SH6)

Para badminton classifications: 
WH1 (Wheelchair/ severe impairment)
WH2 (Wheelchair/minor impairment)
SL3 (Standing/lower limb impairment/severe)
SL4 (Standing/ lower limb impairment/minor)
SU5 (Standing/upper limb impairment)
SH6 (Standing/short stature)

Saturday results and Sunday schedule here.