The last winning shot from the ace para shuttler Pramod Bhagat in the finals of men's singles SL3 category at the Paralympics 2020 held in Tokyo Japan against Briton Daniel Bethell made the small town of Attabira under Bargarh district erupt into celebrations on Saturday.
Family and friends of Bhagat who were glued to their TV sets during the final match against Bethell were ecstatic after the son of the soil brought the fourth Gold Medal of the tournament and first ever Olympic Gold in badminton for India.
Bhagat took the first game 21-14 and then went on to win the second game 21-17 by taking the game, match and tournament for a Gold.
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“I was going down by 4-11 in the second game despite winning the first game. However, I never allowed negativity creep into my mind.I focussed one point at a time and went on to win the second game as well,” said a jubilant Bhagat after winning the medal.
Shiva Prasad Dash, Bhagat's coach broke into tears after watching his disciple’s medal winning performance. “The entire credit goes to him. He got a Gold medal for the country but I got all the happiness in my life. Can’s aspire for anything more,” said Dash in chocked voice.
Similarly,a jubilant Sekhar Bhagat, the younger brother of Pramod said that he is proud of his brother and it is great to see an Odia bringing Gold medal home.
A friend of Bhagat said, “We were quite confident that he will not settle anything less than the Gold. And we are elated with his performance.”
From an Indian perspective, just like the Olympics, the current edition of the Paralympics in Tokyo will never be forgotten. India have already registered their best ever performance at a single edition of the Paralympics, with the medal haul crossing double figures for the first time in the history of India at the Paralympics, in Tokyo.