Asian Para Games: Sanjana Kumari settles for bronze, loses singles SL3 badminton semifinal to Japan's Shino Kawai

Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], October 22 (ANI): Indian para shuttler Sanjana Kumari won bronze in the women's singles SL3 badminton event at the Asian Para Games 2026 after losing to Japan's Shino Kawai 0-2 in the semifinal on Thursday. Her medal marked India's fifth bronze in para badminton on the day. Making her debut at the Asian Para Games, Sanjana lost in straight games, going down 7-21, 9-21. Despite missing out on a place in the final, she secured a bronze medal in her maiden appearance at the continental event, adding to India's para badminton medal tally. Earlier in the day, para shuttlers Krishna Nagar and Nithya Sre, along with Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj and Abhijeet Sakhuja, also clinched bronze medals after losing their respective semifinal matches. Krishna Nagar and Nithya Sre lost 0-2 to Indonesia's Rina Marlina and Subhan in the mixed doubles SH6 semifinal. Suhas Yathiraj also went down 1-2 to Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan in the men's singles SL4 semifinal, while Abhijeet Sakhuja suffered a 0-2 defeat against compatriot Naveen Sivakumar in an all-Indian semifinal clash in the same event. The Indian pair of Krishna and Nithya went down 14-21, 18-21 in straight games, with the Indonesian duo winning both games to book their place in the final. On the other hand, Suhas narrowly lost the opening game 21-23 but bounced back strongly in the second, winning 21-8 to force a decider. The third game remained closely contested until the 11-point mark, after which Setiawan pulled ahead to secure a 23-21, 8-21, 21-15 victory in the singles semifinal event. Meanwhile, Sakhuja went down to compatriot Sivakumar 13-21, 15-21. The bronze medals took India's tally at the ongoing Asian Para Games to 69, comprising 15 gold, 22 silver and 32 bronze medals. (ANI)