Didn’t want to lose after coming this far: Nitesh

New Delhi: Nitesh Kumar’s life took an unexpected turn after a train accident in 2009 led to amputation of his left leg. From childhood to teenage days, Nitesh loved playing football, but destiny cruelly snatched away his passion from him. The resilient, tall Haryana boy was not to give up on his dreams and found his calling in para sport.

An engineer by profession, Nitesh took up badminton while studying at IIT Mandi, often competing against able-bodied players from his college wearing a prosthetic leg. In 2016, he won a bronze medal at the Para Nationals. Gradually, with his dedication and love for the game, Nitesh developed impressive deceptive skills and started to make an impact at national level.

At the 2020 Para National Championships, he stunned Tokyo Paralympic medallists Pramod Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar. Bhagat had claimed a historic gold medal at Tokyo in SL3 (standing/lower limb impairment). Competitors play on a half-width court in this event. Bhagat is serving an 18-month suspension handed out by the Badminton World Federation for an anti-doping violation (whereabouts failure).

Nitesh, however, made sure that India defended its gold medal from Tokyo. The final against England’s Daniel Bethell went down the wire and Nitesh clinched the thriller 21-14, 18-21, 23-21, converting a second match point after saving one in between.

“I had goosebumps when the national anthem was being played and the Indian flag was going up. It was an amazing feeling, hard to describe,” said 29-year-old Nitesh.

The moment was emotional for his family as well. “I had a short video call and they were so happy. I saw tears in my parents’ eyes. It has been a long journey and I want to go out and enjoy this moment with my family.”

Suhas Yathiraj, 41, won silver in the men’s singles SL4 class, after losing 9-21, 13-21 to France’s defending champion Lucas Mazur, 26. For Yathiraj, an IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, it was a big feat to win his second Paralympics medal, having lost to Mazur in the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics final as well. Sukant Kadam, who lost to Yathiraj in the semis, went down 17-21, 18-21 in the bronze playoff to Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan.

Badminton was introduced at the Paralympics in Tokyo and India claimed four medals, including two gold. Since then, para shuttlers have tasted more success at international level. They are now making a big impact at the Paris Paralympics, winning one gold, two silver and one bronze on Monday.

India claimed two more medals in the SU5 category (standing/upper limb impairment).

India’s Thulasimathi Murugesan took silver after losing to China’s defending champion Yang Qiuxia 17-21 10-21 in the final. Second seed Manisha Ramadass took bronze beating Denmark’s Cathrine Rosengren 21-12, 21-8 in the playoff.

Thulasi, 22, hails from Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu and trains at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad. As if her congenital deformity (left hand) was not enough, she suffered severe injuries in an accident that further impacted the mobility of her left hand. However, that didn’t crush the spirit of Thulasi. She won three medals in the Asian Para Games, including gold in singles and silver at the world championships this year. In the final against Yang, Thulasi began well taking a lead of 15-11 but Yang clawed her way back to take the first game. The Chinese took control in the second game while Thulasi’s errors dashed her hopes of any comeback.

No way I was losing: Nitesh

Bethell, one of the best in the event, won silver in Tokyo too, losing to Bhagat. In the final against Nitesh, he rallied after losing the first game, taking the match to the decider. Nitesh was in a comfortable lead but Bethell kept coming back, playing steady badminton. Nitesh failed to convert a match point, and then Bethell faltered, before Nitesh converted his second championship point when Bethell hit a shot wide.

Nitesh said he had lost to Bethell several times in the past from similar situations.

“I was just thinking that I have lost matches from such positions and I do not want to repeat the mistakes. Towards the end, I told myself that the game is not over yet. I should fight for every point. I don’t want to lose after coming so far.

“Before the match many thoughts were coming into my mind; I was kind of pushing them away and trying to concentrate on the game.”

Nitesh said his gameplan helped seal the match. “I trust my deceptive strokes but I realised I cannot play too many strokes here because of the drift. It was tricky. I was patient at the start and could see he was getting desperate. I thought I would not use too many variations and use them when I feel comfortable.”