India's Tokyo Paralympics gold winner Pramod Bhagat was on Thursday named among six shuttlers for the Male Para Badminton Player of the Year by the sport's world body but none of his compatriots featured in the able-bodied awards' categories.
Reigning world champion Bhagat, who had won a historic gold medal in the men's singles SL3 class in the Tokyo Olympics in September, was also named along with Manoj Sarkar for the newly introduced Para Badminton Pair of the Year, with five other nominees.
Sarkar had bagged a bronze in the men's singles SL3 class in the Tokyo Olympics.
The 33-year-old Bhagat, who had contracted polio when he was four years old, picked up the sport after watching his neighbours play. Initially, he competed against able-bodied players before getting into competitive para badminton in 2006.
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Bhagat is also current world number one and Asian champion in SL3. In SL3 classification, athletes with lower limb impairment compete.
