Nitesh Kumar has clinched a gold medal in badminton at the Paris Paralympics, marking India’s second gold medal at the event. Competing in the SL3 category for men’s singles, Kumar triumphed over Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell with scores of 21-14, 18-21, 23-21. Earlier in the day, Yogesh Kathuniya earned a silver medal in discus throw.
Nitesh Kumar celebrates his victory.
India has now won a total of 2 gold, 3 silver, and 4 bronze medals at the Paralympics. Today’s events also saw India competing in badminton, athletics, shooting, and archery. In the mixed SH-6 para-badminton event, India’s Nitya Sri Sivan and Shivrajan Solaimalai lost their bronze medal match to Indonesia’s Subhan and Marlina, with scores of 21-17, 21-12. Nitya Sri Sivan will compete in the singles bronze medal match against Indonesia’s Rina Marlina.
Nitesh Kumar secures India’s second gold.
Nitesh Kumar brought home the gold medal in the SL3 category for individual badminton events. In a match that extended to three games, Kumar won the first game 21-14, but lost the second 18-21. The final game was fiercely contested and reached a 21-21 tie, where Kumar secured the victory with two consecutive points. Prior to this, Avani Lekhara had won gold in shooting. Kumar competes in the SL3 category, which includes athletes with significant walking difficulties or impaired legs.
Yogesh Kathuniya wins silver with a 42.22-meter throw.
On the fifth day, Yogesh Kathuniya earned a silver medal in the men’s discus throw F-56 final with a season-best throw of 42.22 meters. The F-56 category features athletes competing in field events while seated due to their disabilities.
Yogesh had also won a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Javelin Thrower Sumit Antil to Compete in Final
Sumit Antil, who is representing India for the second time at the Paralympics, will compete in the F-64 javelin throw final. Along with Sumit, Indian athletes Sanjay Sandeep and Sandeep will also participate. Sumit had won gold at the Tokyo Paralympics and set a new world record with a 73.29-meter javelin throw at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China.
India’s Medal Achievements on the Fourth Day
On the fourth day, India won two medals late at night. Nishad Kumar earned a silver medal in the T-47 category high jump with a season-best jump of 2.04 meters. Preeti Pal had earlier won a bronze medal in the women’s 200-meter race.
Medal Tally on the Fourth Day
- Nishad Kumar won silver with a season-best jump of 2.04 meters in the men’s T-47 high jump. The gold medal went to Roderick Townsend of the USA, who cleared 2.12 meters. Georgia’s Giorgi Margiani took bronze with a jump of 2.00 meters.
- Preeti Pal secured bronze in the women’s 200-meter race of the T-35 category with a personal best time of 30.01 seconds. China’s Jia Zhou won gold and Kian Guo took silver.
Preeti Pal had also won bronze in the 100-meter race, making her the first Indian athlete to win two Paralympic medals in track events.
Shooter Rubina Francis Wins Bronze
On the third day, para-shooter Rubina Francis won a bronze medal in the women’s 10-meter air pistol SH1 category with a score of 211.1. This was India’s fifth medal at these games.
On August 30, India won four medals: Avani Lekhara earned gold, Mona Agarwal took bronze in women’s shooting, and Manish Narwal won silver in men’s 10-meter air pistol shooting. Preeti Pal won bronze in the women’s 100-meter T-35 race.
Rubina Francis had ranked sixth in the qualification round of the women’s 10-meter air pistol event.
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