4 Nations Finals Day Review: Champions crowned in Sheffield

Sarina Satomi battled from a game down to beat Sujirat Pookham and claim the WH1 women’s singles crown on a busy day of finals action at the 4 Nations Para Badminton International.

In a rematch of the Paralympic final from Tokyo 2020, world No.1 Satomi saw off her Thai opponent 19-21 21-10 21-13 to claim the title.

And that was the first of two crowns she claimed, joining forces with compatriot Yuma Yamazaki to beat Pookham and Amnouy Wetwithan 21-13 21-14 in the WH1/2 women’s doubles final.

It was a double day of delight for Yamazaki who beat Pilar Jauregui in the WH2 women’s singles final, though Jauregui did win the mixed doubles alongside Yuri Ferrigno.

Joining Satomi and Yamazaki in winning two titles on Sunday was Choi Jungman, the South Korean beating Muhammad Ikhwan Ramli 21-16 21-12 in the WH1 men’s singles before winning the WH1/2 doubles alongside Kim Jung-jun.

Elsewhere, home fans had something to cheer about as Dan Bethell stormed to SL3 men’s singles gold on Sunday.

The world No.1 downed great rival and Paralympic champion Pramod Bhagat 21-8 21-10 to claim one of the biggest titles of his career, and assert his position at the top of the game.

“I’m elated with how I played – I thought that was one of the best games I’ve played in a long time,” said Bethell.

“Pramod, he’s such a great champion, we have such a big rivalry – I think that was our 16th meeting and we’ve played 14 finals. I knew it was going to be a competitive match and I was really happy with how I played.”

However, there was disappointment for the other English players in finals action, with Krishna Nagar beating Krysten Coombs in the SH6 men’s singles final, and Rachel Choong and Jack Shephard falling to Subhan Subhan and Rina Marlina in the SH6 mixed doubles final.

Marlina was also victorious in her singles final, beating Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan in straight games to take home two gold medals.

Elsewhere, there was further disappointment for Bhagat, losing 21-17 21-17 to Hikmat Ramdani and Leani Ratri Oktila alongside Manisha Ramadass in the SL3/SU5 mixed doubles final.

However, there was some Indian doubles success to celebrate, with Manasi Girishchandra Joshi and Thulasimathi Murugesan winning a thrilling SL3/SU5 women’s doubles final.