Mazur completes golden treble; India finish on top at Dubai Para badminton  

France’s world champion and top seed Lucas Mazur delivered as promised to complete a golden treble at the 3rd Sheikh Hamdan Bin Al Maktoum Dubai Para Badminton International 2021 that concluded on Sunday.

Mazur opened his golden run at the Championships in style, partnering with Faustine Noel in the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 as the pair came back from a game down to beat Indonesian top pair Hary Susanto and Leani Ratri Oktila 12-21, 21-19, 21-19 in almost an hour match.

The Frenchman then claimed his men's singles SL4 title rather easy against India's Sukant Kadam winning it in 33 minutes 21-15, 21-6. He completed the treble with yet another close match against Indonesia’s Suryo Nugroho and Fredy Setiawan that went into three sets 21-19, 13-21, 21-19.

Mazur’s golden treble was enough to put France in the top three of medals standings as they finished second with 8 medals (4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze) behind India who finished with 20 medals (4 gold, 6 silver and 10 bronze medals), and ahead of Malaysia with 7 medals (3 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze).

Mazur later said the ongoing lockdown at his country has forced him to train in Bordeaux (Southwest of France) while his mixed doubles partner Noel trained 400s of km away in Rennes in Northwest of France. “We were in touch with each other over Facebook Messenger and Zoom calling. We used to discuss our training on the apps and I think it worked well,” smiled Mazur.

“I am happy to put in my game plan and tactics here in the Championships. We all have been training hard during the lockdown. I have fond memories from Dubai as I always had won titles here. So, I came here with winning titles in my mind. I will celebrate my win with a glass of champagne, maybe.”

Elsewhere, reigning world champion Pramod Bhagat displayed a dominant show to clinch two gold medals in men’s singles SL3 and men’s doubles SL3-SL4 events. Bhagat started India’s proceeding on the day taking the gold against compatriot Nitesh Kumar winning it 21-17, 21-18 after fighting it out for 39 minutes.

Later he combined with Manoj Sarkar to defeat yet again compatriots Nitesh and Sukant Kadam 21-18, 21-16 in men’s doubles SL3-SL4 final.

“It was a good tournament overall and I am very happy to start the year on such a strong note and hope I can end it with a gold at Tokyo 2020. It feels great to get the rhythm back. Everyone had come here after a lot of hard work in the lockdown and this shows in their performance,” said Bhagat.

Indonesian top player Oktila also left the Shabab Al Ahli Club with two gold medals in women’s singles SL4 and women’s doubles SL3-SL4 where she along with partner Khalimatus Sadiyah overcame France’s Lenaig Morin and Faustine Noel 21-15, 21-16.
 
“I wanted to go back home with three medals, but managed only two. I will work on my mental aspect and fighting spirit to achieve my target of three gold in Tokyo 2020,” said Oktila, who topped the WS SL4 to take the title.

As expected, the men's singles SU5 finals went down to the wire with Malaysian World Championships bronze medallist Cheah Liek Hou pulling off the thriller coming back from a game down against Indonesia youngster and world no. 1 Dheva Anrimusthi 14-21, 22-20, 21-18.

Cheah later said he was lucky to save four match points and force a decider from 16-20 down to winning it 22-20. Some intense rallies and smashes were the highlight of the match.

"It was after a long time that I was playing Dheva so I took time to get into the momentum. It was only in the second game I executed my game plan. I was also lucky to get a few crucial points. But Dheva played consistently," said the 36-year-old Cheah.

Among other highlights, Ukraine's Oksana Kozyna came out with a brilliant performance to shock reigning world champion Manasi Joshi in straight games 21-10, 21-17 in women’s singles SL3 final.

"Oksana played really well. I am also content with the way I played here as this is an analysis game for me. I had started using this new prosthetic just two weeks ahead of the event. Otherwise, the competition has become more competitive after the lockdown, as everyone has worked hard and we're here to make the most of the play opportunity," said Joshi hoping that the women’s SL3 event is included in Paris 2024 Paralympics.