Krishna Nagar Bags India’s Second Gold in Para Badminton at Tokyo Paralympics; IAS Officer Suhas Yathiraj Scripts History, Finishes with Spectacular Silver Medal
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Krishna Nagar
The last day of the Tokyo Paralympics saw the remainder of the badminton medal matches take place, and with India already bagging a gold and bronze, todays matches were much anticipated among the Indian contingent and the nation. Krishna Nagar and Suhas Yathiraj were assured a medal, and would play in the men’s singles category, while Tarun Dhillon and the duo of Palak Kolhi and Pramod Bhagat would fight for Bronze.
In the men’s SH6 category, India’s Krishna Nagar would go up against Hong Kong’s Man Kai Chu, in what would be a hard fought match. The first set was taken by Nagar in 14 minutes, 21-17 putting him in the provisional lead. However Chu fought back in the second set, and Nagar lost 16-21. The match would go on to the decider set, where both shuttlers were on top of their game.
However, it was the second seeded Krishna who prevailed, winning the third set 21-17 once again in 15 minutes, and thereby clinching the gold medal. This is India’s second gold medal in Para badminton, after Pramod Bhagat clinched the top spot in the men’s SL3 category yesterday.
Tokyo Paralympics: Suhas Yathiraj Scripts History; Becomes the First IAS Officer to win a Paralympic Medal
India’s Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj created history by reaching the finals of the men’s SL4 singles. He became the first IAS officer to win a medal at the Paralympics, after he won a spectacular silver medal.
Yathiraj went up against France’s Lucas Mazur, the top seed in the event. The match lasted for 1 hour and 2 minutes as both shuttlers gave each other a tough fight as the first set was taken by Mazur 15-21. The second set saw some exceptional playing by the Indian, who went on to win the set 21-17.
The final and decider set was up for grabs, and there was no clear leader. However, it was not meant to be for Yathiraj as Mazur won the set 15-21 to clinch the gold medal. Nevertheless it was a silver medal for IAS Officer Yathiraj, which brought India’s badminton tally to 4 medals.
India’s Tarun Dhillon also put up a tough fight in the men’s SL4 bronze medal match, but unfortunately went down 2-0 to Indonesia’s Setiawan Fredy. The duo of Palak Kolhi and Pramod Bhagat also fought for the bronze medal in the mixed doubles category, but the Japanese pair of Daisuke Fujihara and Akiko Sugino proved too strong for them. The Indian pair lost 2-0 after a valiant fight, just missing out on a medal.
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Saivee Phatak
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