Paris Paralympics 2024: Suhas Yathiraj bags silver medal after final defeat; Sukant Kadam finishes fourth

Suhas Yathiraj is the only Indian para-shuttler to win two Paralympic medals.

Tokyo Paralympic silver medalist Suhas Yathiraj couldn’t better his medal colour at Paris Paralympics 2024 and settled for silver after going down against home favourite Lucas Mazur in a rematch of the Tokyo final. Suhas, 41, lost the gold medal match in straight games (9-21, 14-21) to return with a silver medal yet again in the para-badminton men’s singles SL4 category.

An IAS officer and a District Magistrate by profession, Suhas became only the 11th Indian para-athlete to win multiple medals at the Paralympics and eighth to do clinch medals in consecutive Paralympic Games editions.

Reigning champion Lucas started the match comfortably with seven consecutive points. At the mid-game interval, Suhas trailed 2-11 and couldn’t make a comeback after a slow start, losing the opening game 9-21. The same script followed in the second game as well as failed to produce a response Lucas’s superior gameplay and intensity. Suhas trailed 6-11 at the mid-game interval and conceded the game 13-21 to settle for silver.

Also Read: Top eight Indians who finished fourth at Paralympics

It was a rather timid affair as Lucas needed just 34 minutes to defend his gold and beat Suhas yet again in the Paralympics final. Their title clash three years ago was more competitive with Suhas pushing the French para shuttler to three games in a neck-and-neck tie. However, the Indian was no match this time around.

Suhas was born with a congenital abnormality in his left ankle that severely limited his range of motion, yet even at an early age, he showed incredible willpower and resistance. He started para badminton very late but despite this he has achieved a great success in the para-badminton circuit.

Meanwhile, compatriot Sukant Kadam also faced defeat in his bronze medal match against Fredy Setiawan of Indonesia. Kadam, playing his first Olympics, finished fourth in men’s singles SL4 category after a 17-21, 18-21 loss in 39 minutes.

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Sukant started well in the opening game but soon lost the plot and trailed 5-11 at the interval. He then made a mini comeback from 10-16 down to 17-18 to reduce the deficit to just one point but it was not enough as he lost the opening game 17-21.

In the second game, he started strong and led 8-5 but couldn’t keep the momentum and lost five consecutive points to trail 9-11 at the mid-game break. Post the Interval, Fredy just shifted gears and wrapped up the second game 21-18. This is Sukant 12th loss against Fredy and he is yet to win a match against him.

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