Promising Korean Cho Nadan aims for first int’l gold in Dubai

Photo : May Matic and Mark Joseph Madrid / DCD

The Fazza Para Badminton International has been a special tournament for promising Korean shuttler Cho Nadan. His only international medal, in his less than three-year-old career span, has been from the same championships in Dubai – a silver medal in men’s doubles Standing Lower (SL3- SL4) event in 2023.

Coming Sunday at the Shabab Al Ahli Club, the 22-year-old from Seoul wants to turn his silver medal to gold in men’s singles Standing Lower (SL4). His confidence fuels from today’s upset win over top seed and Asian Para Games medallist Sukant Kadam from India 21-13, 16-21, 21-18 in a thrilling Group A match.

“I hope to change the colour of my medals here on Sunday. It was a tough game today – last time I played against (Sukant) Kadam I lost. So, I had analysed his matches and had my strategy coming into the game; I’m happy that I could executive my plans,” said Nadan, whose first international was the Bahrain Para Badminton International 2023.

Nadan, who wants to face French Paralympic icon Lucas Mazur in a major event, is focusing one tournament at a time and improve his rankings to qualify for the LA 2028 Paralympics – his long-term goal.

Nadan pairing with Lee Seunghu, however lost their men’s doubles SL3-SL4 match against Umesh Vikran Kumar and Surya Kant Yadav 16-21, 17-21 but hopes to come back stronger in the knock out stages.

Thrilling encounters

Meanwhile, Nadan’s compatriot Lee Jeongsoo defeated Azerbaijan’s lone competitor in Dubai, Ibrahim Aliyev 21-17, 18-21,19-21 in a thrilling men’s Standing Upper (SU5) group game.

In women’s Standing events, Ukrainian top seed Oksana Kozyna had to fight back a tough challenge from her senior opponent Halime Yildiz, a three-time world championships medallist to win 13-21, 21-16, 21-17.

Kozyna, the Tokyo 2022 world champion, overcame a six-point deficit 6-12 to turn the tables and pull off an amazing 21-17 win.

Alrushaidi aims to improve

For the home side UAE, Siham Alrusaidi lost her Group A WH2 Round three match against Emine Seçkin, former World Championships silver medallist, but the Emirati took back a lot of learning experiences.

"The championships have been a big learning. (Emine) Seckin is a champion and today I learnt about various technique and movements. I was amazed to see the flexibility of my opponent on the wheelchair. I hope to get control and adapt to my wheelchair soon.,” said Alrushaidi who also played the mixed doubles WH1-WH2 group game alongside Jamal Al Bedwawi in the day.

Having been an international Para Athletics player in the past, Alrusaidi already has strong arms, and she has picked up the game quite well in the last one year. She plans to use the experience in her training aiming to focus on single and doubles tactics.