Paris Paralympics 2024: Nitish Kumar Enters Badminton Men’s Singles SL3 Final, Assures Medal For India
New Delhi: India’s Para-badminton player Nitesh Kumar entered the badminton men’s singles SL3 final at the Paris Paralympics 2024. Nitesh is now assured of at least a silver for the nation. He defeated Daisuke Fujihara of Japan in the semi-finals. Nitesh outclassed his Japanese opponent by 21-16, 21-12 in straight games to book his place into the finals.
The top-seeded Indian had topped Group A, which featured another Indian, Manoj Sarkar by winning all three matches. Nitesh will be up against Great Britain’s second seed Daniel Bethell in the final as they will fight for the gold medal on 2nd September. Bethell has come into the final after beating Thailand’s Bunsun Mongkhon 21-7, 21-9 in the other semifinal. The British star was the topper in Group B, registering his own hat-trick of wins.
Nitesh’s semifinal win assures India will return with a medal in the SL3 event, a category in which Pramod Bhagat had clinched gold in the last Paralympics. Bhagat, who was suspended for 18 months due to whereabouts failures, had defeated Britain’s Bethell in the final in Tokyo three years ago.
The clash now guarantees to be a vital one as the top two players will fight for the top prize at the Summer Games.
India has clinched five medals at the Paralympics 2024 so far with three – all in badminton – being assured now. Avani Lekhara and Mona Agarwal won gold and bronze in the R2 – Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1. Manish Narwal took home a silver in the P1 – Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 category, while Rubina Francis was the latest shooter to bag a medal. She clinched a bronze in the P2 – Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 event. Preethi Pal became India’s first track medallist at the Paralympics as she won a bronze in the Women’s 100m – T35 category.
In badminton, Manisha Ramadass and Thulasimathi Murugesan face each other in an all-India semifinal in the women’s SU5 category. Two more Indians – Sukant Kadam and Suhas Yathiraj – will be facing each other in the semis of the men’s SL4 category, which assures another medal for India.