Paris Paralympics 2024 Day 4 Highlights: Sprinter Preethi bags 2nd bronze, high jumper Nishad makes it back-to-back silvers; Thulasi, Suhas, Nitesh reach badminton finals

• 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 to play for bronze

THULASI INTO THE FINAL: The top seed of Women's Singles SU5 Thulasimathi Murugesan prevails in a hard-fought straight-games contest against Manisha Ramadass to become the first Indian female shuttler to reach the final at Paralympics. 

Manisha must pick herself up for the bronze medal match now. 

Oh dear, Manisha erroneously lets the shuttle drop at the back line and it lands in to give Thulasi FOUR match points. 

At 15-11, you thought Thulasi might run away with it but to her credit Manisha makes it a 1-point game, thanks to a couple of soft errors from Thulasi. 

It's Manisha with a 11-10 lead in the 2nd game at the interval. Tough to call how this is going to go. Both players trading momentum.

Manisha unhappy clearly with a line call after a good rally post interval. Frustrations for her. Thulasi is starting to ahead now as her clear lands in over Manisha 

Treatment needed for Manisha for evidently scraping her knee, hopefully nothing more serious than just cleaning up a blood wound.

It's all level in Game 2.

Thulasi 23-21 Manisha: Thulasimathi Murugesan converts her third game point to take the lead in this semifinal. Been a terrific contest this.

WHAT A RALLY! Just superb from both Thulasi and Manisha at 20-20 in Game 1. And it is Thulasi's point eventually with a clever disguise that draws Manisha forward with a dive. 46 shots! Game point again for Thulasi.

Smash down the line from Thulasi, and she has the first game point. 

But quickly, it's 20-20 as Manisha draws the error. 

And Thulasi pulls ahead again... the more steadier player of the two, the world No 1. It's 19-17 in her favour. 

Tremendous rally to make it 18-19 by Manisha! A deft touch... and then she makes it 19-19 with a clear that lands in. 

Well, well, well. And Manisha draws level at 17-17. It is a much more even contest now than what it appeared to be at the start of the match. Manisha's shot-making is coming to the fore. 

Some brilliant court-craft there by Thulasi, moving Manisha to all four corners, and then finding a deft crosscourt touch at the net. 

Manisha however just about staying in touch. 14-16. 

Thulasi with the better start but Manisha has found her rhythm after making some errors early on. Thulasi does take a 11-9 lead into the interval.

We are not done yet for the day, folks. Time for an all-Indian semifinal between Thulasi and Manisha, the world No 1 and world No 2. Thulasi hs the H2H advantage.

Earlier in the day, Manisha Ramadass set up an-all Indian semifinal against her teammate Thulasimathi Murugesan, assuring India's first female medallist in para badminton at the Paralympics. That semifinal is coming up shortly. 

Two more medals were confirmed in Para Badminton. Suhas Yathiraj defeated Sukant Kadam 21-17, 21-12 in the Men's Singles SL4 Semifinal. While Kadam will play for bronze, Yathiraj competes in the Men's Singles SL4 final. Meanwhile, in the Men's Singles SL3 semi-final, India's Nitesh Kumar beat Daisuke Fujihara 21-16, 21-12 in the semis. 

In SH6, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan defeated Poland's Oliwia Szmigiel in the Quarterfinal but later lost the semifinal against China's Lin. Nithya will now try and clinch the bronze. 

SUHAS YATHIRAJ reached back-to-back Paralympics finals, defeating Sukant Kadam in the Men's Singles SL4 semifinal. It was a tough opening game for the world No 1 who trailed 14-17, but he reeled off seven straight points to take the lead. The second game was a bit more comfortable 21-17, 21-12. The 2nd game actually had longer rallies on average even though the scoreboard suggests otherwise. But Sukant was left to rue the run he of points he gave up towards the end of the first game. Had he won that game, perhaps he could have put Suhas under more pressure. He will now compete for bronze on his debut.

Suhas, the 41-year-old IAS officer who had won silver in Tokyo and a rematch of that final awaits, against French star Lucas Mazur.  The Indian had just overtaken Mazur to be World No 1 but he will have his task cut out in front of a raucous home crowd. Mazur had beaten Suhas twice in Tokyo, first in the group stage and then in the title clash. In the final, Suhas had taken the lead but Mazur fought back to win in three. 

#Paris2024 #Paralympics#Athletics And now Nishad Kumar can smile.

Townsend and Nishdad embrace once more.

Nishad, 2-time Paralympics silver medallist ??https://t.co/vebKJRXuOU pic.twitter.com/vfVSPRbbe9

— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) September 1, 2024

SILVER MEDAL FOR NISHAD: Shades of Neeraj Chopra there. A silver (and back-to-back) for Nishad Kumar but he appears distraught at the end of his third missed attempt at 2.08m. He finishes with the best of 2.04m. Townsend of USA will win gold (he can continue jumping of course)

Bronze medal match it shall be for Nithya Sre. The Indian had a 19-18 lead in Game 2 to try and force the decider but Lin Shingbao of China prevails in straight games.

IND vs INA for bronze. It will be another tough test for the Indian, but today's fight should give her some confidence. 

Townsend clears 2.06 with a first time clearance. Nishad then misses his first attempt at 2.08m. 

Nishad Kumar confirmed in the top two! With Margiev and Pitso done with their event, the Indian and American are going to once again be the top two just as they were in Tokyo.

Nithya Sre is not going away without a fight! The Indian top seed has a 11-8 lead in the 2nd game.

Nithya Sre trails by a game against her Chinese Opponent. This is a tough ask for her now.

#Paris2024 #Paralympics #Archery

MATT STUTZMAN, YOU LEGEND! ?

The OG Armless Archer, at 41, is finally the PARALYMPICS CHAMPION.

And what a way to do it. With 9 straight 10s and a stunning 149! How can you not love sport? https://t.co/vebKJRY2Es pic.twitter.com/AEsS1wClEG

— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) September 1, 2024

Time for Para Badminton action, and it is the SH6 semifinal between LIN Shuangbao vs Nithya Sre SUMATHY SIVAN

Nishad with a 2.00 clearance on the first go! Solid from the Tokyo silver medallist and he looked like he cleared with relative ease. 

Ram Pal had earlier cleared a new Personal Best of 1.95m, but that's where his event ends. At 1.98m he misses thrice.

Nishad Kumar hasn't jumped since clearing 1.95 with his first attempt.

FOURTH PLACE FOR RAKESH KUMAR: The Indian does his bit by shooting three 10s in End 5. But He Zihao is just good in the end, he matches the 30 and wins the bronze medal by JUST ONE POINT. 

Take nothing away from Rakesh, that was a fine fight. 

Zihao will start shooting in End 4 because he is trailing. And the first arrow is a 10 from Zihao, and a 9 from Rakesh. We are back level.

Rakesh with a good 10 for his second arrow... but he is JUST out of the 10-zone! 

Zihao into the lead with 3 arrows left

Zihao's first arrow is a 9, and finishes with a 9 too. That's a window for the Indian. Rakesh starts End 3 with a BULL's EYE! And makes it a solid 29 to the Chinese's 28. 

It is a 1-point lead for the Indian after End 3. Rakesh is doing a solid job so far....  but now the nerves will start to kick in. 

Zihao will now had some time to settle down... and he starts End 2 with a 10. 

Rakesh starts with a 9, and that erases the lead he had. But he responds well to make it a 29 in that End. 

We are all level after 6 arrows each. 

Imagine being He Zihao, shooting a joint Paralympic Record 148 and still losing the match. He has to recover so quickly here. 

Rakesh has had the time to relax and now he starts off End 1 with a fine 30. Zihao with a 9 in End 1, and it is a slender lead for the Indian.

INCREDIBLE FROM STUTZMAN! The OG Armless Archer with another shootoff 10 to win a ridiculous semifinal that was tie 148-148. Rakesh vs He Zihao now in the bronze medal match. 

Nishad starts off with a first-time clearance at 1.95*. Correction. 

Ram Pal clears 1.92 in the nick of time! After two failures at that height, he manages to get past it. Nishad (and Townsend) yet to gett to their first jumps, taking their time.

Preeti Pal wins India’s 6th medal, adds 200m bronze to her 100m medal.

And she does it with a PERSONAL BEST again. 

No Indian had ever won a track racing event before Paris in India's Paralympics history, and now Preethi has done it twice. 

Preethi Pal is back for her 2nd event... can she add to the 100m bronze she had won? Introductions done, race about to begin.

Rakesh Kumar to shoot in the bronze medal match: China's Ai Xinliang wasn't at his very best, he had an 8 early in the match that we didn't see coming, and a couple of 9s late on... but Rakesh couldn't hit the 10s enough. 

Rakesh will know his opponent shortly as the 2nd semifinal begins. 

Rakesh will now need a miracle to win this match. Both arrows shoot the same scores in End 4, and Status Quo is great for Ai. The Chinese archer has the 3-point lead in tact before the final end.

Yeah, Ai is not giving any more chances. Rakesh has perhaps missed the window in this one in End 2. 

End 3, starts with two X-10s from Rakesh, that is good... but then it is a borderline 8/9 with his third arrow. Eventually given 9. Ai with three 10s and the Chinese goes into a 3-point lead. 

Ram Pal goes for his first jump at 1.80 and clears with his first attempt. Nishad and reigning champ Townsend are yet to start off.

There is really very little room for error when Ai is shooting as well as he has been...

...and then Rakesh starts with two 9s. 

Ai with an EIGHT. (Checks again, wow indeed so!) But Rakesh doesn't capitalise on that. Three 9s in End 2 for the Indian. Big opportunity missed.

Rakesh starts off with two superb X-10s. But Ai of course hits a couple of 10s too... 

...and then the Indian drops a stray arrow ALMOST into the red zone. It at least caught the line, so it is not an 8. Rakesh with a 29.

Ai's ridiculous run of 10s continues, he starts with a 30. 

REMINDER: 

• In compound elimination matches, cumulative scoring is followed where the scores of all arrows add up over the duration of the match. Individual matches consist of 15 arrows, split into five ‘ends’ of three arrows, and the maximum score is 150 points. There are no set points. Final score wins. And if there is a tie, one-arrow tiebreak where closest to center wins.

Time for India's Rakesh Kumar vs China's Ai Xinliang. Rakesh is the world No 1, while Ai is the top seed who broke the Paralympic Record in the ranking round and then shot a ridiculously good 148 a few minutes back. Winner goes to the final, for the other archer, it will be the bronze medal match.

It's been an absolute rollercoaster already for Rakesh... and now he will face Ai of China, who just equalled the Paralympic record in the quarterfinals a while back with a superb 148. HE was on 120 out of 120 before the last End. 

Going to be a tough test for Rakesh this. 

Nishad Kumar and Ram Pal's event is underway. Nishad, the Tokyo silver medallist is a strong medal contender in this event. 

We are only at the lower heights so far, which most jumpers have passed on. 

Here are the stats from Suhas' win. The 2nd game actually had longer rallies on average even though the scoreboard suggests otherwise. But Sukant will be regretting the run he of points he gave up from 17-14 up in the first game. Had he won that game, perhaps he could have put Suhas under more pressure.

In the final, Suhas will face France's Lucas Mazur, who he just overtook from as the World No 1. Mazur had beaten Suhas twice in Tokyo, group stage and then final. In the final, Suhas had taken the lead but Mazur fought back. 

SUHAS YATHIRAJ! Back-to-back Paralympics finals! A tough opening game, but Suhas a bit more comfortable in the end as he beats fellow Indian Sukant Kadam to return to the MS SL4 title clash. He enjoyed that, lovely celebrations in the end after an embrace with Sukant. The 41-year-old IAS officer is making it happen at the biggest stage again. A rematch of the Tokyo final awaits, against French star Lucas Mazur. More on that shortly.

Suhas has the edge in the second game too.

RAKESH, INTO SEMIFINAL.

Here's how Rakesh Kumar reached the final. He was trailing after End 3. A superb End 4 put him in the lead. He needed a 10 with his last arrow to take this to a shootoff. And in the shootoff, he came up with a stunning bull's eye!

WHAT A NAIL-BITING VICTORY FOR INDIA'S RAKESH KUMAR!!!

India's para-archer Rakesh Kumar defeats Canada's Kyle Tremblay via a single arrow shootoff in the quarters of the individual archery event.

The Indian was trailing 57-58 after the second end and 86-88 by the end of the third end (nine overall arrows). But a perfect fourth end, where he shot three arrows in the 10th ring, while his Canadian opponent shot three nines saw him take a one-point lead at 116-115 into the final end. 

In the fifth end, the Candian shot one additonal 10 to force a shootoff. 

But Rakesh was in no mood to throw in the towel. Take a look below at how close to the centre his arrow was: just 3 mm!!!! 

Rakesh breezes through to the semis.

Suhas Yathiraj in to the lead: In this all-Indian semifinal, it is Suhas who takes the lead. And he does so in some style, from 14-17 down to 21-17 on a run of 7 straight points.

BHAVINA PATEL INTO THE QUARTERFINALS: A comfortable win for the Indian paddler, as she comes through in straight games. But a massive challenge awaits her in the quarterfinals, against China's Zhou who has been a nemesis of hers. 

RIght then, not long left for the Rakesh Kumar QF.

Bhavina Patel takes the second game too.  

One of the greatest shootoff arrows you will ever see!

 

 

Artist. Art. pic.twitter.com/HWfb2EKbg3

— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) September 1, 2024

Bhavina Patel has raced to a 11-3 win in the opening game. Strong start from the Tokyo silver medallist.

INDIA WILL HAVE A MS SL3 FINALIST AGAIN: 10 match points for Nitesh Kumar. Fujihara fought hard to save a couple, pumping himself up. But in the end, Nitesh had too much of a cushion built up. 

After Pramod Bhagat in 2021, we have another Indian into the Men's singles SL3 final. Can Nitesh make it 2 in 2 for India? He will, however, face a tough test against Daniel Bethell from Great Britain. But more on that later. For now, another MEDAL ASSURED for India.

Fujihara is trying to pump himself up... another long-ish rally but this goes the Japanese's way. Another good rally follows, Nitesh tries to get cheeky with a forehand undercut slice that floors his opponent but goes wide. Nitesh has the finish line in sight though.