Para Badminton Paris Paralympics 2024 Live Updates: Thulasi and Manisha’s medal matches next; Nitesh Kumar wins India’s 2nd gold of the Games

THE FIRST FEMALE BADMINTON MEDALLISTS AT THE PARALYMPICS: A moment of history as Manisha Ramadass (bronze) and Thulasimathi Ramadass (SILVER) make it to the podium together. 

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One of the most famous sports quotes of all time belongs to tennis player Vitas Gerulaitis. By beating Jimmy Connors in the Masters Championships at Madison Square Garden in 1980, Gerulaitis ended a long streak of losses. Connors had got the better of him 16 times in a row. Gerulaitis said, “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row.”
It is hard to say if something similar came to Nitesh Kumar's mind after he beat Daniel Bethell of Great Britain in the gold medal match of Men's Singles SL3 Badminton at the Paris Paralympics on Monday. But the sentiment could have been similar. Nobody beats Nitesh Kumar 10 times in a row, perhaps. The Indian, who had not defeated Bethell in their nine past meetings, found a way in the biggest match of his life. Nitesh beat Bethell 21-14 18-21 23-21 in an 80-minute thriller to win India's second gold medal of the Paris Games.
Intriguingly, world No 1 Nitesh came into this match as the underdog against world No 2 Bethell. Indeed, it was not lost on Nitesh, who had spoken after his semifinal about not being able to find a way against the Brit in the past. “I haven't won against him yet, but we've had some interesting games."

Report on Nitesh Kumar's win.

Photo: PCI

Men's Singles SL3: Nitesh Kumar wins gold

Men's Singles SL4: Suhas assured medal as finalist, Sukant to play for bronze

Women's Singles SU5: Thulasi assured medal as finalist, Manisha to play for bronze

Women's Singles SH6: Nithya Sre to play for bronze

Mixed Doubles SH6: Nithya Sre / Sivarajan lost in bronze medal match

Screengrab via Paralympics YouTube

Comments from gold medallist Kumar NITESH (IND) after beating Daniel BETHELL (GBR) 2-1 in the Men's Singles SL3 gold medal match at La Chapelle Arena on Monday.

On winning a gold medal at his first Paralympic Games:

"I really can't express it because I can't feel anything, everything feels numb to me. I am looking at the crowd and I can feel that I have done something very huge."

On winning the deciding set after BETHELL won the second set:

"Even before stepping onto the court, I knew it was going to be a mental game. I just wanted to keep my calm and that worked for me in the first set. 

In the second set, I was leading and then somewhere in between I lost my focus and got too eager to get points. That is when he took some amazing points. 

"In the third set, it was very close. I got some good points, he got some good points, but in the end I knew it was going to be mental and I could keep my calm and pull it off."

Nitesh Kumar's gold medal, one for engineers who turned to sports! And what good shot-making, the technical quality of his game was quite sensational.

Read more here.

Nitesh is a trained engineer, who suffered an unfortunate train accident when he fell out of a moving coach during college, needing prosthetics on his left foot. A strapping 6 footer with a wicked reverse drop on the court, he had always liked badminton, but got serious about it in the last few years. Playing mixed doubles alongside Thulasimathi Murugesan, he spent his last six weeks before heading out to Paris, at the Pullela Gopichand academy, for a specific skills bootcamp. A cerebral player, he’s been shaping up for this big final, 

Nitesh came into the sport with a helpful build beyond his left leg amputation, but also a reputation in Para circles for playing fancy badminton, and flashy strokes. One of the most strokeful players, his overflowing talent needed direction. Gopichand would assign three of his top coaches to rotate in surprise sessions. “He has good height, and everything in defence, attack and strokes is good,” explains coach Rajendra Kumar. “But we shuffled his sessions, to add variations of three different playing styles so he would get used to different players,” he added.

Read more by Shivani Naik here.

GOLD MEDAL NITESH KUMAR! The men's singles SL3 title with stay with India. Pramod Bhagat won it three years back and Nitesh has done it this time around. AND WHAT A WIN. WHAT A THRILLER. He had never beaten Bethell before, and does so for the first time at the biggest match of his life. 

Nitesh has the first match point. Saved by Bethell.

Bethell has a match point. And saved by Nitesh with that marvellous reverse sliced drop of his!

And Bethell back to within one point! Nitesh sends a lift long.

Oh dear, a moment of drama. Nitesh thinks this is out but the shuttle is called in. Would have been match point for Nitesh. 

What a miss from Bethell! A rare chance for a clear kill at the net after a nice exchange at the front court and Bethell snatched at it. Big, big mistake. Another error next point as Bethell sends a lift long.. Nitesh within 2 points! 

Nitesh with a flat drive... and Bethell sends it back with interest. One point game!

Oh wow, a costly leave this time by Ntesh who has been judging the lengths quite so far. And just like that Bethell closes the gap down to 2 with a great net shpt. 

Well, we haven't seen this sort of a lead in a while, since the first game ended really. It's a FIVE-POINT LEAD for Nitesh. Bethell with two really costly errors. The English coaches are egging him on. 

A nice backhand flat pusy by Nitesh catches Bethell by surprise. This is so tense. 

It's the smallest of leads for Nitesh at the final change of ends... a rare short point ends with Bethell's backhand lift going wide.

And now Nitesh seems to be in a better rhythm. Some confidence back in his shot-making in that last rally as he goes up 8-7... and then Bethell goes into the lead once more with a super quick smash to Nitesh's right side before he could even turn his hip. 

Bethell seems to have the momentum firmly on his side now. The points Nitesh is winning are also more on Bethell's errors. It cannot be easy for Nitesh to recover from missing out on that game. He could have been 19-17 up. 

That rally at 18-17* where Nitesh had a near open court to land his lift in will haunt him if he doesn't win this match. Bethell raises his arm up in the air after he plays a super aggressive point to take Game 2 and take this match into the decider! Momentum with the British player now. 

Shot of the match? Bethell with a superb slice drop that catches Nitesh by surprise. And next rally, it is game points for Bethell. 

It is that forehand drive to Nitesh's hip that gets the point for Bethell after another tough rally. And then Nitesh makes it 18-17 with a jump smash! That is some shot. 

Another bruising rally at 16-16 and it is Nitesh who wins it this time. Bethell with the error. Both players were trying to avoid a mistake there.

Perhaps the longest rally of the second game so far, Nitesh gets the point to inch ahead 15-14. And another whipped smash winner from Nitesh to go up 16-15. This is so tense at the moment. 

And now Bethell back in it ! Three straight points for the Brit as he brings out a few more variations. 

Nitesh with a superb reflex "well left", sways away from a body smash to see the shuttle go wide.

Oh nearly a stunning escape from Nitesh as he puts his racket up at the net in anticipation of a shot, and the shuttle crosses over... but just gets wide of the center-line. 

Daniel Bethell is starting to show signs of frustration, and the errors are creeping. Nitesh Kumar staying patient, solid in his shotmaking. It's a 11-8 led in Game 2 for the Indian on the back of a backhand where Bethell snatched at the shot. 

Those reverse slices and drops are particularly tough to pull off for a giant like Nitesh on the semi-court, because it needs extreme control. There's no potential for the expansive arm-freeing cross courts. His shot-making is exquisite.

Shivani Naik 

11 is the average rally stroke count in Game 2... it was 21 in Game 1. More errors from both players too so far in this game. 

Signs of frustration creeping into Bethell's game play at the moment and that is testament to Nitesh's shotmaking, the decision-making on when to use that reverse slice to good effect. 

That 122-shot rally he lost actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Nitesh, who brought out the variations right after that point! The endgame was so good for the Indian and he takes the lead 21-14.

Look at the stats from the game:

What a lift from Nitesh! It looked the point had gone for him after a good downward shot from Bethell, but a reflex backhand lift goes over Bethell and lands in! 

And he follows that 122-hummer with two clever winners - reverse slice drop and a cheeky net poke. After lulling the Brit into that long rally whirl, Nitesh has suddenly unfurled flurry of strokes, varying lengths. Neat control at net for 18-14 lead.

Shivani Naik

One hundred and twenty two shots! And nearly minutes long (162 seconds) and it goes the way of Bethell after a drop shot drew Nitesh forward and put him under defensive pressure. But incidentally that point has made Nitesh change it up a little bit, as he goes on a run of points using soft touches at the net and sliced reverse drops... clean winners. Perhaps he realised at that point that he must take the initiative more. 

Nitesh Kumar has enviable consistency on the tosses and lifts he plays to the back court. He is completely denying Bethell any scope to attack with down shots, with the sheer altitude on his metronomic shots. The Indian came back from 6-9 to lead 11-9 and is now 11-12 down. Clean, punchy hits.

Shivani Naik

Nitesh goes into the interval with a 2-point lead but right out of the interval, Bethell wins three straight points to retake the lead. 

WHAT A POINT! A lot of clears to the backcourt from both, and then Bethell finally decides to push pace towards Nitesh's right hip, but this time Nitesh with a stunning backhand defensive block that goes over Bethell's head. 20 is the aveage number of strokes in the rally already. 

And it is that shot that Bethell mishits that brings Nitesh back to within one point. 

When Bethell increases the pace to Nitesh's forehand side with a flatter drive, Nitesh is having some issues adjusting. That seems to be the go-to option for the Brit. 

First time anyone has had some breathing room is a 7-5 lead for Bethell, but Nitesh plays a really good rally to close the gap again. 

The rallies in SL3 singles tend to be really long. There was a 107-shot rally in Tokyo involving Daisuke Fujihara that went viral. There was a 82-shot rally in Nitesh vs Fujihara last night too. It will be key to remain patient. We have a 71-shot rally just as we say that! The reverse slice from Nitesh working well as a kill shot early on. But it is so tight. 

Here we go then, formalities sorted and we are all set. Nitesh starts off with two good points, but you can already see the rallies will be long. 

SL# singles is played half court, and the rallies between the top players can go really long. It will be a battle of patience. And having the weapons to find a winner at the opportune time.

Nitesh hasn't beaten Bethell in 9 meetings. 

PARA BADMINTON QUICK GUIDE

• The different classifications in para badminton are Wheelchair Sport Classes – WH 1 and WH 2; Standing Sport Classes – SL 3, SL 4 and SU 5; Short Stature Sport Class – SH 6
• Letter: WH (= Wheelchair) / (SL = Standing Lower) / SU (= Standing Upper) / SH (= Short stature) 
• Number: 1 and 2 = wheelchair users / 3 and 4 = athletes with a lower limb impairment or mild hemiplegia / 5 = arm impairment / 6 = athletes of short stature
• India have entries in Standing and Short Stature Sport Classes 
• SL3 & SL4 classes have impairment in lower limbs. SL3 is for more severe impairments and singles matches in this class are played on half the court (lengthwise half) 
• Apart from SL3 singles, WH1 and WH2 singles matches are also played on half court
• SU5 class is for players with impairment in upper limbs
• The height of the net is the same for all classes and stands at 1.55m, the same as in Olympic badminton.
• As was the case during the Olympics, Badminton will once again be played at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena. 
• Para badminton made its Paralympics debut in Tokyo. There are a total of 16 medal events in para-badminton, two more than in Tokyo. 

NITESH (IND) spoke after beating FUJIHARA Daisuke (JPN) 2-0 in their Badminton Men's Singles SL3 semifinal at La Chapelle Arena on Sunday.

On reaching the gold medal match:

"It feels amazing. Being the No.1 seed, I was expected to be in the final. It feels good. I took it one match at a time and now I'm happy to be in the final."

On beating FUJIHARA:

"We have been playing each other for a very long time on the international circuit. We were aware of each other's game, so I planned the game and executed it pretty well. It was a good match."

On facing Daniel BETHELL (GBR) in the gold medal match on 2 September:

"We've been playing against each other for a very long time. It's been a year that we've played at multiple events. I haven't won against him yet, but we've had some interesting games."

• Women's Singles SU5: Thulasi assured medal as finalist, Manisha to play for bronze
• Men's Singles SL4: Suhas assured medal as finalist, Sukant to play for bronze
• Men's Singles SL3: Nitesh Kumar assured medal as finalist
• Women's Singles SH6: Nithya Sre to play for bronze
• Mixed Doubles SH6: Nithya Sre / Sivarajan lost in bronze medal match

Daniel Bethell, the British SL3 finalist of para badminton, has known his arch-rival Pramod Bhagat’s game all too closely, all these years. The Indian defending champion missed out on the Paralympics from a whereabouts suspension. But Bethell might not find the path to gold a straightforward one, nor too many ready insights into the other Indian who will turn up against him at the Paris finals.

Nitesh Kumar, the highly skilled towering shuttler from Haryana, downed Japan’s Fujihara Daisuke 21-16, 21-12 in the semifinals at the Chapelle Arena. He has a unique approach heading into his first Paralympic finals, that will shield all tactics from Bethell and keep things under wraps – by not planning strategy himself. 

Read more by Shivani Naik here.

A big day coming up for India in terms of the medals tally, and plenty of those medals will come from para badminton. Three Indian shuttlers -- Thulasimathi Murugesan, Nitesh Kumar, Suhas Yathiraj -- are in the final of their respective categories, which means Indian para shuttlers are expected to win AT LEAST THREE MEDALS TODAY.