Malaysian badminton player R. Aravindakumara secured victory in his opening Deaflympics group match against Thailand’s Anuntawip Sombun
NATIONAL MEN’S SINGLES SHUTTLER R. ARAVINDAKUMARA delivered Malaysia’s first victory at the Deaflympics 2025 with a hard-fought group stage win.
The 18-year-old overcame Thailand’s Anuntawip Sombun 21-23, 21-12, 22-20 in their Group G match at Tokyo’s Keio Arena.
“I am very happy because I am among those who delivered a win for Malaysia today,” Aravindakumara told reporters.
He credited his previous defeat to the same opponent in Brazil for helping him study and counter Anuntawip’s playing pattern effectively.
Aravindakumara will complete his group stage fixtures tomorrow against Taiwan’s Chung-I Chen in their first-ever meeting.
“I am very positive about my upcoming opponent, but we cannot underestimate our rivals,” he added.
Meanwhile, Malaysian representative Edmund Teo suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Japan’s Yasuhiro Nagaishi in Group N.
The 19-year-old started strongly but ultimately fell 21-16, 16-21, 20-22 after a 58-minute battle.
“Yes, the shuttlecock was a bit slow, but I tried my best to adapt to whatever was provided by the organisers,” said Edmund.
He will face Denmark’s William Haurholm-Rasmussen in his final group match tomorrow.
In women’s singles, Trisya Rafael suffered a heavy 3-21, 3-21 defeat to Japan’s Mai Kamata in Group I.
She will next face Turkey’s Gizem Nur Uludag in her upcoming match.
The tournament follows a three-stage format comprising preliminary group matches, knock-out rounds and final seeding based on ICSD Badminton rankings.
Only the top two players from each group advance to the knock-out stage. – Bernama
