Asian Para Games 2026: Nitesh, Naveen win men's singles gold; Thulasimathi and Nithya take silver
Nitesh Kumar and Naveen Sivakumar clinched gold medals in the men's singles SL3 and SL4 badminton events at the Asian Para Games in Nagoya on October 23, 2026. India's Thulasimathi Murugesan and Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan finished with silver medals in their respective women's singles finals.
The men's singles finals featured two Paralympic champions in Nitesh and Pramod Bhagat, while Pramod had been the Asian Games gold medallist in 2018 and 2022. Thulasimathi, a 24-year-old and Paris Paralympics silver medallist, contested the SU5 title at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium. Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan also reached a final, competing in the women's singles SH6 event.
Nitesh defeated compatriot Pramod Bhagat 21-18, 21-16 in the SL3 final. "Very happy to win the Asian Games gold medal. Last time I was close, I was leading 19-16 in the third set, and then I lost. So this time, winning it and again winning in two sets against Pramod is, of course, very special, and I think it's one of the rarest of the rare things to see," said Nitesh, the Paris Paralympic gold medallist.
Naveen overcame Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan 21-9, 21-17 in 36 minutes to claim the men's singles SL4 title. The straight-sets victory secured the top podium position for Naveen in Nagoya.
Pramod Bhagat, who had to settle for silver, had been the two-time defending Asian Games champion from 2018 and 2022. "It doesn't feel that good because I had won two consecutive gold medals at the Asian Games, and I was trying to win a third gold here. I had everything, but today some of my strokes went wrong and my judgment was slightly off, which is why I am contenting myself with just a silver," said the Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist.
In the women's events, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan lost 12-21, 13-21 to China's Li Fengmei in the SH6 final. Thulasimathi Murugesan was beaten 18-21, 11-21 by China's Yang Qiuxia in the SU5 final at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium, ending both players' singles campaigns with silver.
In para badminton classifications used at the Games, SL3 denotes players with significant lower-limb impairments who compete on a half court, SL4 describes athletes with lower-limb impairments who have better walking and running balance, SU5 is for players with upper-limb impairments, and SH6 is for athletes with short stature.
Thulasimathi remains in contention for further medals and will partner Nitesh in the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 final against Indonesia’s Leani Ratri Oktila and Hikmat Ramdani; later she will team up with Manasi Girishchandra Joshi to face China's Yang Qiuxia and Xiao Zuxian in the women's doubles SL3-SU5 final.
