Paris Paralympics: India’s Sivarajan-Nithya lose in bronze medal clash of mixed doubles para-badminton

Paris [France], September 2 (ANI): The Indian mixed doubles para-badminton pair of Sivarajan Solaimalai and Nithya Sre Sivan endured a loss in the bronze medal match at the ongoing Paris Paralympics on Monday.

In the mixed doubles SH6 bronze medal match, Sivarajan-Nithya lost to Indonesia’s Rina Marlina and Subhan in two straight games by 17-21, 12-21.

In the semifinals of the mixed doubles SH6 category, Sivarajan and Nithya lost to USA’s M Krajewski and J Simon by 21-17, 14-21, 13-21, but qualified for the bronze medal match.

India has secured a total of seven medals at the ongoing Paris Paralympics, with one gold medal, two silvers, and four bronze medals.

Preeti Pal clinched the bronze medal in the 200m T-35 race on Sunday. With this medal, Preeti created history as she became the first-ever Indian woman athlete to win 2 medals in the track & field events at the Paralympics, or Olympics. In this event, Preeti registered her personal best as she finished the race in 30.01 seconds. She had also secured a bronze medal in the women’s T35 100 m race after clocking 14.21 seconds, which is also her personal best.

Nishad Kumar clinched a silver medal in the men’s high jump – T47 final on early Monday morning. Nishad, who also finished second in Tokyo three years ago, achieved his season-best performance with a leap of 2.04 meters, earning him the silver.

Rubina finished third and bagged a bronze medal in the P2-Women’s 10M Air Pistol SH-1 final on Saturday. She gathered a total of 211.1 points in the final. Javanmardi Sareh of Iran finished with gold (236.8 points) and Turkey’s Ozgan Aysel went on to win the silver medal (231.1 points).

On Friday, reigning Paralympic champion, Avani Lekhara maintained her winning streak and struck gold in the women’s 10m air rifle final at the ongoing Paris Paralympics. Shooter Mona Agarwal bagged the bronze medal at the same event.

Lekhra dominated the final of the women’s 10m air rifle and secured the top place with 249.7 points, which is also her personal best.

South Korea’s Yunri Lee won the silver medal after finishing in second place with a points of 246.8, while, India’s Mona bagged the bronze medal with a total points of 228.7.

India’s silver medal came in shooting as well, with Manish Narwal getting a silver in the men’s P1 10 m air pistol SH1 competition.

This year, India has sent its largest Paralympics contingent ever, comprising 84 athletes across 12 sports, a testament to the country’s expanding para-sports ecosystem. India’s participation in the Paris 2024 Paralympics marks not only a significant increase in numbers but also in medal hopes, as the nation aims to surpass its previous achievements in Tokyo.

Tokyo 2020 was India’s most successful Paralympic Games, with the country winning 19 medals, including five golds, eight silver and six bronzes.