“Feel happy and proud to be able to play for my country”: Indian para shuttler Suhas Yathiraj after winning silver at Paris Paralympics

Paris [France], September 4 (ANI): After winning a silver medal at the ongoing Paris Paralympics 2024, Indian para-shuttler Suhas Yathiraj expressed his feelings about representing the country and said, “We are trying our best to win more than 25 medals.”

India had won 19 medals in the last Paralympics in Tokyo.

Suhas once again settled for a silver at the Paris Paralympics, just like in Tokyo three years ago. In the men’s singles SL4 category, France’s Lucas Mazur completely ousted the Indian Suhas with a straight-set win. Suahs went down against the French shuttler after enduring a 9-21, 13-21 defeat.

“I feel happy and proud to be able to play for my country. It is a big deal to be able to qualify for the Paralympics and compete with the best athletes in the world. Winning a silver is a good achievement but it would have been better had I won a gold… Indian sports have become very vibrant… We are trying our best to win more than 25 medals this time and hope to win more than 50 next time, and by the time India gets ready to host the Paralympics, we will aim for more than 100 medals,” Suhas said while speaking to ANI.

In the opening set, Suhas failed to match Mazur’s intensity and fell well short in the end. In the second set, he tried to initiate a comeback but failed to deliver it and settled for a silver medal.

While his compatriot Sukant Kadam, in the same event, failed to take away the bronze medal. He found himself trailing after the first set while facing Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan.

In the first set, Sukant showed grit, but it wasn’t enough to get the better of Fredy. He lost the opening set by 17-21.

In the second set, he once again displayed vigour, but it wasn’t enough to get past Fredy. He succumbed to an 18-21 defeat and missed out on the bronze with a defeat in straight sets.

Meanwhile, para-shuttlers Thulasimathi Murugesan and Manisha Ramadass won silver and bronze medals respectively, in the women’s singles SU5 category.Murugesan lost the first set to China’s Yang Qiu Xia 21-17. In the second set, the Indian player struggled and lost the match with a scoreline of 21-10, securing a silver medal.

In the bronze medal match of the same category, Manisha outclassed Denmark’s Cathrine Rosengren 21-12, 21-8. The Indian player dominated throughout the match, securing another medal for the nation.

India also tasted gold medal success in para-badminton after shuttler Nitesh Kumar outplayed Great Britain’s second-seeded Daniel Bethell to clinch a gold medal in the men’s singles SL3 category at the ongoing Paralympics.

Nitesh, who discovered his passion for badminton at IIT-Mandi, added a second gold to India’s medal tally after shooter Avani Lekhra won the nation’s first gold at the Paris Paralympics with a sensational display in the women’s 10m air rifle final.

In a game that went right down to the wire, Nitesh ousted Daniel with a 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 win to claim his place at the top of the podium.