Paris Paralympics 2024: Thulasimathi Murugesan, Manisha Ramadass become first Indian female shuttlers to win medals

By Siddharthan P

Siddharth has been part of Khel Now since September 2023 and has covered Asian Games, Olympics and Pro Kabaddi League, writing articles for multiple sports.

Published at :September 3, 2024 at 8:22 AM

Modified at :September 3, 2024 at 8:22 AM

Paris Paralympics 2024: Thulasimathi Murugesan, Manisha Ramadass become first Indian female shuttlers to win medals

(Courtesy : Getty Images)

Thulasimathi Murugesan and Manisha Ramadass won silver and bronze medals respectively in the same event.

Indian para badminton contingent continued their impressive run at Paris Paralympics 2024 as Thulasimathi Murugesan and Manisha Ramadass bagged silver and bronze medals respectively in the women’s singles SU5 category on Monday. Thulasimathi Murugesan had to settle for a Silver after losing to China’s Qiu Xia Yang in the gold medal match while Manisha beat Cathrine Rosengren of Denmark to take the bronze medal.

The duo became the first Indian female shuttlers to win medals at the Paralympics, with Manisha becoming the first-ever. They are also the first Indian women duo to medal at the same event in the same edition.

Thulasimathi Murugesan secures SILVER at Paralympics debut🏸22-year-old Tamil Nadu native falls to China's Xia Qiu Yang 17-21, 10-21 in SU5 badminton final. Impressive showing on the international stage for the young para-athlete#Paralympics #paralympics2024 #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/TsVz499mWQ
— Khel Now (@KhelNow) September 2, 2024

Thulasimathi was a favourite going into the competition as she was the top-seeded player in the category. The TamilNadu girl lived up to the expectations as she dominated the proceedings on her way to the finals.

She started the finals on a positive note leading 11-8 in the first half. But a serious of unforced errors meant that Thulasimathi had to concede the lead and then the game. The Chinese captiliased on the momentum as she dominated the second game to grab the gold with a scoreline of 21-17, 21-10.

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Nevertheless, it was a historic night for India as the event saw double podium finish. Not only did Thulasimathi stood on it, her opponent in the semis Manisha Ramadass produced a stellar performance in the bronze medal match to take home India’s third badminton medal of the day.

It was no surprise to see the success of Manisha who has been impressive ever since making her debut.

Manisha Ramadass wins BRONZE 🥉 at #ParisParalympics2024!! 🇮🇳She defeats 🇩🇰 Denmark's Cathrine Rosengren in straight games 21-2, 21-8 to become first Indian woman to win #parabadminton medal at the #Paralympics. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/rVCmSBFhT1
— Khel Now (@KhelNow) September 2, 2024

The girl from Thiruvallur had claimed the World No. #1 ranking in her debut year speaks volume of her ability to dominate her opponents. In the battle for the third place, she annihilated Denmark’s Catherine Rosengren with a scoreline of 21-12, 21-8.

The 19-year-old’s strength has been her serve and her Denmark opponent realised it in the second half as she scored 16 points. But it was too late as the Indian romped home with the medal.

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Siddharthan P

Like many 90s kids, Siddharth dreamt of being a cricketer but ended up studying Engineering. But his passion for sports never left him, as he started writing and talking about it. He worked as a commentator for the Tamil Nadu Premier League and has been writing about all other sports since 2017. Any day, if there is an Indian playing in any sport, Sid will be watching.