Deaflympics 2025: Shuttler Aravindakumara Leads Malaysia's Charge Group Stage Win

From Farah Najihah Zuraimi

TOKYO, Nov 16 (Bernama) — As the Deaflympics 2025 opened yesterday, national men’s singles shuttler R. Aravindakumara lifted the spirits of the Malaysian contingent after emerging as the only singles shuttler to record a victory in today’s opening group-stage matches at  Tokyo's Keio Arena.

The 18-year-old, who lost the first game 21-23, said a change in tactics by taking greater control of the match paid off when he clinched the next two games 21-12 and 22-20 in Group G, defeating Thailand’s Anuntawip Sombun.

“I am very happy because I am among those who delivered a win for Malaysia today. But there are still matches ahead of me, and I will continue to push for a medal for the country,” he told reporters.

He said his previous defeat to Anuntawip at a tournament in Brazil had helped him study his opponent’s playing pattern and ‘teach him’ today.

Aravindakumara will complete his group-stage fixtures tomorrow in his first-ever meeting with Taiwan’s Chung-I Chen in the final group match.

“I am very positive about my upcoming opponent, but we cannot underestimate our rivals. What is certain is that I will fight with everything I have for Malaysia,” he said.

Meanwhile, a late resurgence by host nation’s men’s singles player Yasuhiro Nagaishi edged out another Malaysian representative, Edmund Teo, in the deciding game of their first-round Group N match.

Edmund, 19, started strongly but failed to capitalise on a golden opportunity despite leading up to the 20th point before Yasuhiro displayed exceptional composure to seal a 16-21, 21-16, 22-20 victory 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, who will face Denmark’s William Haurholm-Rasmussen in the final Group N match tomorrow.

In the women’s singles category, Trisya Rafael suffered a heavy defeat to host player Mai Kamata, going down 3-21 and 3-21 in the first round of Group I, and will next face Turkey’s Gizem Nur Uludag.

According to the competition format for singles and doubles, the tournament is divided into three main stages: the Preliminary stage, the Knock-out stage and the Seeding stage.

In the preliminary stage, each player or pair is divided into groups containing three to four participants, with each participant facing all other opponents in their group once.

The top two players or pairs from each group will advance to the knock-out stage, where only the winners of each match progress further.

Finally, in the seeding stage, players or pairs will be listed according to the official ICSD Badminton rankings.

-- BERNAMA