Pune-based Sukant scripts a bronze story in China
Pune, 25th October 2023: India’s Sukant Kadam fell short on two counts and bowed out with two bronze medals at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games, in China on Thursday.
On a day scheduled for semifinal rounds, third-seeded and World No.4 Sukant lost his SL 4 Singles encounter to Mohammed Amin Burhanuddin (Malaysia) 23-21, 21-11. Facing each other for the first-time, Sukant lost a close first game before bowing out in 34 minutes to the unseeded World No. 19 Malaysian.
Earlier, Sukant made it to last-4 winning a long-haul encounter against Shin Kyung Hwan (South Korea) 12-21, 21-17, 22-20 in an encounter lasting 57 minutes. For Sukant, the loss to the Korean was his fourth in the singles event.
Later in the SL 3-SL 4 Doubles semifinal, top-seeded Sukant, partnering Pramod Bhagat, were shocked by the fighting third-seeded Indonesian pair of Dwiyoko Dwiyoko/ Fredy Setiawan 22-20, 21-23, 12-21. Having won the first game, the Indian duo lost a close second game 21-23 and went on to lost the third.
The doubles event also meant the Indians lost the pre-match head-to-head (H2H) advantage. Currently, after the loss both pairs are level at 2-2.
For Pune based 30-year-old Sukant the two bronze medals he bagged in Hangzhou are his first in individual events and his third overall from the two Para Asian Games that he represented India. Earlier, Sukant was a member of the bronze-medal men’s team at the Jakarta 2018 Asian Para Games held in Indonesia.
RESULTS
Singles, SL-4, Knockout Stage
SF: lost to Mohammed Amin Burhanuddin (Mal) 23-21, 21-11- 34 minutes
QF: bt Shin Kyung Hwan (South Korea) 12-21, 21-17, 22-20 – 57 minutes
Rd-1: Bye
Group-C (Round Robin):
Rd-2: bt Ahmed Fayaz (Maldives) 21-5, 21-7 – 17 minutes
Rd-1: bt Yeh En Chuan (Chinese Taipei) 25-23, 21-5 – 28 minutes
Doubles, MD SL 3 – SL 4
Knockout Stage
SF: lost to 3-Dwiyoko Dwiyoko/ Fredy Setiawan (Indonesia) 22-20, 21-23, 12-21 – 57 minutes
QF: bt Sangnil Singha/ Thasiripong Teamarrom (Thailand) 21-10, 19-21, 21-12 – 41 minutes
Group-A (Round Robin):
Rd-2: Hsing Chih Huang/ Yeh En-Chuan (Chinese Taipei) 21-11, 21-15 – 29 minutes
Rd-1 Ukun Rukaendi/ Hary Susanto (Indonesia) 21-8, 21-15 – 30 minutes.
