Tokyo: 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.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Aravindakumara expressed his happiness over delivering a win for Malaysia, while acknowledging that more matches lie ahead. He noted that his previous defeat to Anuntawip at a tournament in Brazil had helped him study his opponent’s playing pattern, which contributed to his success today. Aravindakumara is set to complete his group-stage fixtures tomorrow in his first-ever meeting with Taiwan’s Chung-I Chen in the final group match.
Meanwhile, the host nation’s men’s singles player Yasuhiro Nagaishi managed to edge out another Malaysian representative, Edmund Teo, in the deciding game of their first-round Group N match. Edmund started strong but could not capitalize on his lead, allowing Yasuhiro to secure a 16-21, 21-16, 22-20 victory after a 58-minute match. Despite the loss, Edmund remains focused on his upcoming match against Denmark’s William Haurholm-Rasmussen in the final Group N match.
In the women’s singles category, Trisya Rafael faced a challenging match against host player Mai Kamata, resulting in a 3-21, 3-21 defeat in the first round of Group I. Trisya is scheduled to face Turkey’s Gizem Nur Uludag next.
The competition format for the singles and doubles tournament is structured 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 with three to four participants, each 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. In the seeding stage, players or pairs will be listed according to the official ICSD Badminton rankings.