Pramod Bhagat versus Daniel Bethell, a para badminton rivalry to watch out for

Englishman Daniel Bethell has turned around a 2-7 head-to-head record from 2017-2021 against India’s Paralympic and World champion Pramod Bhagat, to now lead 10-8 post his loss in the finals at Tokyo 2020.

India’s para-hero in the SL3 category over the last 8 losses spanning Spain, Bahrain, Canada and Thailand, has realised just how challenging it is going to get against Bethell who’s thirsting for a Para Games gold medal that Bhagat won.

It is rivalries like these that reinvigorate ambitions of defending champions. Knowing that his chest-level smashes and deceptions that blew Bethell away in that Tokyo final have been neutralized by the Englishman hungry for his glory, has led Bhagat to up his own game, empty his head of memories of past success and go problem-solving looking for counters to Bethell’s counters.

Federer needed a Nadal and Lin Dan couldn’t have been such a riveting watch, had it not been for Lee Chong Wei. Para badminton, which sensationally debuted at Tokyo, is looking for a Round 2 of this edgy Bhagat-Bethell clash, though SL 3 has multiple contenders now including Indian dark horse Nitesh Kumar, who himself has handed Bhagat two losses in Brazil in back- to-back years.

The para World Championships next month from February 20-25 will be an accurate marker for both Bhagat and Bethell, and the Indian is working up some frenzy using his losses to get the competitive juices flowing.

He admits he didn’t really go all-out after Tokyo, after having worked relentlessly for the ultimate gold since he started in 2005. He relaxed a bit, took a break from subconscious pressure that he reckons is necessary to push in bigger events. And he’s suitably and calculatively built himself an insecure mind space, so he keeps chewing on the fact that Bethell has handed him half a dozen finals losses and he needs to buck up.

Bhagat’s polio related disability never came in the way of a blazingly confident and fascinating mind. He is self aware, realises the Team GB rival holds an edge over him and that he himself could be lacking in appetite. But he knows having cracked the gold code once, what hard work and determination and upping of skills is needed to win more and more.

Except for the Indian hockey teams of yore, none in individual disciplines has repeated a gold. Devendra Jhajharia memorably did in Para Games 12 years apart from 2004 to 2016, but Bhagat is craving the back to back gold.

(L-R) Pramod Bhagat, Daniel Bethell, Nitesh Kumar and next to him is Manoj Sarkar, all SL 3 contenders.

Bethell has stopped playing doubles to not be distracted for his charge at MS SL3 gold, after his silver at Tokyo. “I really wanted to win gold but all credit to Pramod, he played an amazing game, the variety of his attack was devastating and he kept at it the whole time, he deserved to win,” Bethell had said then.

He’s done much to enter the Games leap year by shaving off at his weaknesses. Bhagat plays all three — singles, doubles and mixed, and as such runs the risk of hedging his focus, by giving himself options.

But the upcoming World Championships will determine if he can keep his big occasion temperament intact. Bhagat did defend his Worlds and Asiad title post Tokyo, but Paris is the real test.

One of his best traits as he went about stringing together titles was in knowing what works for him. The constancy to prove he’s the best has seen him capable of overcoming the biggest challenge of a successful athlete – satiated success. He refuses to be content.

Bhagat recalls landing at an airport once in 2019 on a day when his Arjuna award was announced. A few days before that, the Odisha State government had honoured him with their own top award. It ought to have been a happy flight. But he worried himself silly over what a contrast it would read on the sports page should he lose early: news about his loss at the World Championships and about being bestowed with Arjuna honours at the same time. The thought came to him at 6-21 down against Bethell again, and it was from there that he carved his comeback to win the 2019 World title. He works up the appetite for newer goals.

“I come from a small place in India. Jo cheez aasaani se milti hai uski kadr nai rehti. (There’s no value left for things you get easily.) Those honours were wonderful, but would be of no value to me had I lost the next Worlds. But it pushed me to win double gold,” he recalls. “Players should never get easy access to everything. It kills hunger in sport. Winning is most important,” he says, going against the accepted narrative that money alone brings medals.

He never made excuses about facilities before Tokyo and is glad things changed thereafter, but is determined to not let success stop his growth. He believes Para sport gets due recognition now, though Bethell’s nation does basics right, to magnify the medals.

“India has gotten better in recent years. But the thinking in Europe on Para sports is broader. Their athletes don’t struggle for rampways at stadia, movie theatres or malls or even disable friendly seats at public toilets. Even today not all stadiums in India are accessible to Para athletes. Europeans focus first on these things, treat Para athletes with respect. Slowly India is learning too and medals help in bringing focus to us,” he says.

Government funding used to be cruelly half for Para athletes as compared to able bodied ones prior to Tokyo. When recently checked, Bhagat’s winning racquet is slated for Rs 13 crore in a charity auction of kits of champions. “When I won the gold I was representing my entire para community. As Indians we are the best at channeling our emotions and feelings as fuel for pushing ourselves. A lot has changed from basic struggle to enter the stadium and now there’s a boom for para sportspeople.”

But more needs to be done. And a second gold is pivotal to those plans.

Yet as the Games year starts, Bhagat is sharpening his sword to defend his World title. And the southpaw Bethell, a Masters in Law from Bristol, is the man challenging his crown. “It’s good I had to start working hard again because I was losing to Bethell. Without a challenge, life becomes too chill and boring,” he says. He backs himself to deliver the goods when the big occasion turns up.

He’s taken to PUBG these last few years, and says sometimes falls are necessary to rise again. “Bethell is my motivation and I have to bounce back,” he declares, having given himself a suitable rival.

They don’t quite feign great camaraderie but there’s immense respect between Bethell and Bhagat. “There’s no aggression from my end, but yes, the English need to show they have an upper hand in every situation. And they do play with an ego, so there’s a nice edge to our rivalry. The Worlds will be a good trailer for the Paralympics,” he assures.

The Dheva Anrimusthi – Cheah Liek Hou rivalry between the Indonesian and Malaysian respectively is one right firecracker in the SU5 category and the talk of para badminton chatter. Bhagat-Bethell in SL3 promises to fire up too as the Games approach. “I’ve forgotten my past success. This is a new fight,” Bhagat says, as he attempts to become the first Indian para shuttler to go for a second gold. Bethell has a point to prove, but the Indian is courting greatness.

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