Paris/Château. India’s Kumar Nitesh won his first Paralympic gold medal by defeating Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell in a tough contest in the men’s singles SL3 badminton final here on Monday. 29-year-old Nitesh from Haryana used his strong defence and correct shot selection to beat Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist Bethell 21-14 18-21 23-21 in a match that lasted one hour and 20 minutes.
Nitesh said after the match, “I still don’t feel anything. Maybe when I go to the podium and the national anthem is played, I will be able to face this feeling.” Players in the SL3 category have more severe impairment in the lower part of the body and play on a half-width court. When Nitesh was 15, he lost his left leg in a train accident in Visakhapatnam in 2009, but he overcame the shock and took up para badminton.
This victory of Nitesh is not just a personal achievement but with this victory, India retained the gold medal in the SL3 category. When para badminton made its debut in Tokyo three years ago, Pramod Bhagat won the gold medal in this event. Nitesh, a graduate from IIT Mandi, had earlier lost all nine matches against Bethell and on Monday he registered his first win against the player from Great Britain.
He said, “I did not think like this. Thoughts were coming to my mind about how I would win. But I was not thinking about what I would do after winning.” The final match was a test of patience and skill in which both the players played very tough rallies. There was also a rally of 122 shots of about three minutes in the opening game. Nitesh troubled Bethel throughout the match with his reverse hit, drop shot and excellent play at the net.
In the opening game, Nitesh was at one point trailing 6-9 but managed to make a comeback due to his strong defence and was ahead 11-9 at the break. He then took a 18-14 lead and won the game when Bethel hit a shot out. The Indian player was ahead 14-12 in the second game and could have won the game in straight sets but Bethel made a comeback and dragged the match into the third and deciding game.
In the third and deciding game, both players faced a tough fight for every point. Both players reached 19-19 from a score of 8-8. The Indian player got the first championship point at a score of 20-19 but he could not take advantage of it.
Bethel also got a championship point at 21-20 but he too hit the shot on the net. After this, Nitesh won the gold medal when Bethel hit the shot out on the second championship point.
Nitesh said, “I have lost against him in such situations and I did not want to repeat the same mistakes. I had lost my composure earlier too, so I told myself that I should keep fighting for every point. Even at the score of 19-20 in the deciding game, I told myself to stay firm and let him work hard for the points.”
He said, “I usually don’t play with so much patience and rely on my strokes. But when I started in the first game here, I planned that I have to play the first few points well to get comfortable. Then I can play my strokes and I could see that he was desperate. But due to the circumstances I did not try too much variety, just tried to play a stable game.” For Nitesh, this victory was the result of years of hard work and perseverance. The journey from being bedridden after the accident to standing on top of the Paralympic podium is a testimony to his indomitable courage.
Nitesh, the son of a naval officer, once dreamed of joining the defense forces following in his father’s footsteps. However, the accident shattered those dreams. Nitesh made his para badminton debut at the 2016 National Games in Faridabad where he won a bronze medal. He also performed brilliantly at the global level. He won three medals including a silver in singles at the Asian Para Games in 2022. Earlier, the second seeded Indian pair of Shivarajan Solaimalai and Nitya Sri Sumati Sivan lost 17- 21 12-21 against the Indonesian pair of Subhan and Rina Marlina in the bronze medal play-off of the mixed doubles SH6 event.
Shooters Nihal Singh and Aamir Ahmed Bhat eliminated from qualification round
Indian shooters Nihal Singh and Aamir Ahmed Bhat failed to make it to the finals of the mixed 25m pistol (SH1) event here on Monday, finishing 10th and 11th respectively. The performance of both the Indians showed consistency in the first stage of qualification. After the precision stage, Nihal was fourth with 287 points while Aamir was at the eighth and last qualifying position with 286 points. However, in the rapid stage, both Nihal and Aamir could only score 282 points and scored a total of 569 and 568 respectively, which was not enough to make it to the final.
The shooters who finish in the top eight in the qualification round advance to the final. Players classified in SH1 are able to hold their gun without difficulty and shoot standing or sitting (in a wheelchair or chair). Under the rules, SH1 players can use a pistol or rifle. Indian shooters failed to win a medal on the second day. The shooters have so far won four medals including one gold.