After missing out in last year due to an injury, Palak Kohli made a terrific comeback at the Para Badminton World Championship in Pattaya, Thailand on Friday. Palak stunned the second-seeded Haruka Fujino of Japan in a straight-game (21-16, 21-19) quarterfinal match to confirm her first medal in the world championships.

Palak became the first Indian player to confirm a medal in the Women’s singles SL4 category after Parul Parmar, 11 years back in 2013.

She changed her category to SL4 from her previous category SU5, which she used to play till the Paralympics 2022. Palak displayed immense growth in the game over the years with her movement in a rally and court coverage and also decreased her unforced errors.

In the semis, she will be up against former world champion and renowned player Leani Ratri Oktila of Indonesia tomorrow. This will be the fourth meeting between the two players which Leani is leading by 2-1.

Palak Kohli with a dominating performance

After thrashing the former world medalist Chanida Srinavakul of Thailand in the round of 16 match, Palak Kohli continued the same form in the quarters against Haruka. She never allowed her opponent to move ahead of the early lead in both games and secured a win.

Overall, this was Palak’s first-ever win against the Japanese star in the third meeting and also the match between these two players that lasted two straight games.

Palak gained crucial ranking points from this win, which will help to get a qualification for the Paralympic games. After missing from the action due to an injury in the Asian Para Games, this victory also boosted Palak’s confidence in this Olympics year. She will be aiming to make it to her back-to-back Paralympics after winning a quota from the rankings spot.

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