Parul Parmar completed a double crown as India bagged two gold, two silver and six bronze medals in the BWF Para-Badminton World Championship in Ulsan, Korea, on Sunday.
The 44-year-old Parmar, who was struck with polio at the age of 3, first hammered second seed Wannaphatdee Kamtam of Thailand 21-8, 21-17 in 23 minutes to bagged the SL3 (Standing Lower) women’s singles crown. She then came back to team up with Japan’s Akiko Sugino to defeated China’s Hefang Cheng and Huihui Ma 21-16, 21-19 in the women’s doubles SL3-SU5 (Standing Upper).
Manasi Joshi, who lost to Parmar in the semifinals, bagged the bronze medal in the SL3 category.
While Parmar was on song in the final, Manoj Sarkar (SL3) and Tarun Dhillon (SL4) failed to clear the finals hurdle.
Second seed Sarkar fought hard but went down 15-21, 21-19, 21-16 against unseeded Ukun Rukaendi of Indonesia in an hour and 11 minutes while Tarun couldn’t counter the might of top seed Lucas Mazur of France, losing 21-18, 21-10 in just 28 minutes.
All Indian medallists:
Gold: Parul Parmar (WS SL3) and Parul Parmar with Japan’s Akiko Sugino (WD SL 3-4)
Silver: Tarun Dhillon (MS SL 4), Manoj Sarkar (MS SL 3)
Bronze: Raj Kumar/Rakesh Pandey (MD SU 5), Raja Magotra/Ruhi Satish Shingade (XD SS 6), Umesh Vikram Kumar with Thailand’s Chawarat K (MD SL 3-4), Raja Magotra/ Mark Joseph Dharmai (MD SS 6), Manasi Joshi (WS SL 3), Pramod Bhagat (MS SL 3)