Kajiwara wins gold in men’s wheelchair badminton; final match marks his 125th consecutive victory

PARIS — Daiki Kajiwara, 22, claimed his 125th consecutive victory in the WH2 wheelchair class on Monday, a victory that also earned him gold in the event at the Paris Paralympic Games.

Kajiwara was passionate about baseball until his sophomore year of high school, when he lost his right leg in a traffic accident. He then switched to wheelchair badminton and eventually shone at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics, when the sport was added to the official roster. There, at the age of 19, he won the first-ever gold medal in the men’s WH2 singles.

Yet he has continued to aim higher, even after becoming world champion. Since Tokyo, he has never suffered a defeat, not even in international competitions.

In April of this year, Kajiwara broke wheelchair tennis player Shingo Kunieda’s record of 107 consecutive victories. Kajiwara saw Kunieda as his role model, even though they compete in different sports.

After each match, Kajiwara analyzed videos with his coach to get inside his opponent’s head. Kajiwara improved his wheelchair handling technique by practicing with an able-bodied player who hit shots that would be difficult for a wheelchair user to keep up with.

At the Paris Games he underlined his championship status by winning all four matches up to the final in three sets.

“At the moment the types of shots I can make are quite limited, so I still have a lot of room to grow. I want to keep winning,” said Kajiwara, who vowed to take a further step forward towards a third consecutive gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.