Tokyo Paralympics: Suhas Yathiraj clinches silver in men's singles badminton SL4 event
Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj - Silver
India's ace para-shuttler Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj scripted history as he became the first-ever IAS officer to win a medal at the Paralympics. The 38-year-old clinched a silver medal in the final of the men's singles badminton SL4 event at the ongoing Tokyo Games after losing to Lucas Mazur of France on Sunday.
With a silver, India extendtheir medal tally to 18 at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020. Yathiraj lost to the French para-shuttler 21-15, 17-21, 15-21.
The India para-athlete started off very strong in the first game-winning it by 21-15. However, Muraz staged a sensational comeback to clinch a gold medal in the final of the men's singles badminton SL4 event.
Earlier in the Paralympics, it took Suhas less than 20 minutes to sail through the first two matches, Suhas outwitted Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan 21-9 21-15 in 31 minutes in the first semifinal.
This is not the first medal Suhas has won. In 2016 itself, he participated in the Asian Championship in Beijing and become the first non-ranked player to win the gold medal.
More international recognition was awaiting him as he went on to win medals at BWF Turkish championship in 2017 and 2019 besides the latest, a gold, in Brazil in 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic started ravaging India and world.