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Indian shuttler Nitesh Kumar clinched a gold medal in the men’s singles SL3 event at the Paris Paralympics 2024. Kumar, who appeared in his first Paralympics, took down his counterpart, Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell with a score-line of 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 in a 79-minute long contest. This was the first time Kumar took down Bethell in ten attempts, marking his first major gold medal in singles.
Nitesh took an early lead in the first set and ended up winning it comfortably in 31 minutes with the scores of 21-14. Kumar lost his momentum and lost the second round with a close margin of 18-21, forcing a decider against his English rival. The intensity of the game grew and both shuttlers gave a tough competition to each other. However, eventually, Nitesh made a comeback and won the set and eventually the gold with a score-line of 23-21.
Before the final, Nitesh had taken down Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara and assured India of a medal. The 29-year-old took down his Japanese counterpart in straight sets with a score-line of 21-16, 21-12 in a 48-minute clash. Nitesh had lost his left leg in a train accident in 2009, and was the top-seeded for the event. After his win in the semis, he said, “I have been performing consistently, so I had the self belief that I will make the finals and it feels amazing to actually do that because there is pressure and I had lost my mixed doubles but I didn't let it affect me.”
He is an IIT Mandi graduate, who won three gold medals, including a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games. Nitesh started his campaign by beating compatriot Manoj Sarkar 21-13, 18-21, 21-18 before he took down Yang Jianyuan 21-15, 21-11 and then Bunsun Mongkhon of Thailand 21-13, 21-14 in his group fixtures.
