Qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games continues to be the them of the year for the world’s Para badminton players – as it is included in the Paralympic programme for the first time next year.
As a results, the world’s top players flocked to the stunning National Stadium Yoyogi for the Hulic Daihatsu Japan Para-Badminton International 2019 – the official test event for next year’s Paralympic Games.
Oceania are represented in a range of classifications group stages throughout the week, with Australia’s Caitlin Dransfield securing the only victory on day one in her Mixed Doubles SL3 – SU5 group D. She returned to court later in the day for her second match against the 3/4 seeds from India, but missed out in an extremely close match:
- Guillaume Gailly/Caitlin Dransfield (FRA/AUS) vs Faxin Wu/Tongtong Li (CHN) 21-16 21-15
- Raj Kumar/Parul Dalsukhbhai Parmar (IND)[3/4] vs Guillaume Gailly/Caitlin Dransfield (FRA/AUS) 23-21 21-18
Elsewhere in the draw, it was a tough day for Australia’s other player as the majority of players came up against some of the top seeds in their disciplines:
- Yuyang Gao/Huihui Ma (CHN) vs Nils Boening/Celine Vinot (GER/AUS) 21-4 21-10
- Krysten Coombs (ENG)[3/4] vs Luke Missen (AUS) 21-8 21-7
- David Toupe (FRA)[5/8] vs Richard Davis (AUS) 21-9 21-2
- Martin Rooke (ENG)[3/4] vs Douglas Youlten (AUS) 21-3 21-0
- Daiki Kajiwara (JPN)[5/6] vs Grant Manzoney (AUS) 21-3 21-8
- Jungjun Kim/Dong Seop Lee (KOR)[2] vs Richard Davis/Grant Manzoney (AUS) 21-2 21-7
- Rakesh Pandey/Manasi Girishchandra Joshi (IND) vs Nils Boening/Celine Vinot (GER/AUS) 21-17 21-8
The group stages will continue to unfold on day two, which will also be the start of New Zealand’s Corrie Robinson Men’s Singles SL4 campaign, where he opens the day against Thailand’s Chawarat Kitichokwattana.
Follow the draw and results throughout the week on Tournament Software.
Learn more about Para Badminton classifications here.
