India’s Nitish Kumar won his first gold medal at the Paralympics by defeating Great Britain’s Daniel Bethel in a tough match in the men’s singles SL3 badminton final in Paris on Monday. 29-year-old Nitesh from Haryana, with the help of his strong defense and correct shot selection, defeated Tokyo Paralympics silver medalist Bethel 21-14 18-21 23-21 in a match that lasted one hour and 20 minutes. Players in the SL3 category have more severe lower body disorders and play on half-width courts.
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Lost left leg in train accident
When Nitesh was 15, he lost his left leg in a train accident in Visakhapatnam in 2009 but he recovered from the shock and took up para badminton. This victory of Nitish is not just a personal achievement but with this victory India retained the gold medal in SL3 category. When para badminton made its debut in Tokyo three years ago, Pramod Bhagat had won the gold medal of this event. Nitesh, an IIT-Mandi graduate, had earlier lost all nine matches against Bethel and registered his first win against the Great Britain player on Monday.
‘What will I do after winning?’
“I didn’t think of it that way,” he said. Thoughts were coming in my mind about how I would win. But I wasn’t thinking about what I would do after winning.” The final match was a test of endurance and skill with both players playing very tough rallies. There was also a 122-shot rally of about three minutes in the opening game. Nitish troubled Bethel throughout the match with his reverse hits, drop shots and excellent play at the net. Nitesh was trailing 6-9 at one point in the opening game but was able to make a comeback due to his strong defense and was leading 11-9 at the break. They then took an 18-14 lead and won the game when Bethel missed a shot.
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tough competition was seen
The Indian was leading 14-12 in the second game and could have won in straight games but Bethel made a comeback to take the match to the third and deciding game. The third and deciding game saw a tough fight between the two players for every point. Both players reached 19-19 with the score of 8-8. The Indian player got the first championship point at the score of 20-19 but he could not take advantage of it. Bethel also got a championship point at 21-20 but that shot also hit the net. Nitesh then won the gold medal after hitting Bethel’s shot on the second championship point.
Won gold by learning from this mistake
Nitish said, “I have faced defeat against him in such circumstances and I did not want to repeat the same mistakes. I had lost my composure earlier too so I told myself that I should keep fighting for every point. Even at 19-20 in the decider, I told myself to stay put and let him work for the point. “I usually don’t play with that much patience and trust my strokes,” he said. . But when I started here in my first game, I planned to play the first few points well to get comfortable. Then I could play my strokes and I could see that he was frustrated. But due to the circumstances, I didn’t try too much variety, just tried to play a steady game.
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Strength of badminton found in IIT
For Nitish, this victory was the result of years of hard work and perseverance. The journey from lying in bed after the accident to standing on top of the Paralympic podium is a testament to his indomitable courage. Nitesh, the son of a naval officer, had once dreamed of following his father’s footsteps and joining the defense forces. However, the accident shattered those dreams. Nitesh made his debut in para badminton at the 2016 National Games in Faridabad where he won a bronze medal. He performed brilliantly at the global level also. She won three medals, including a silver in singles, at the 2022 Asian Para Games. Nitesh came to know about badminton while studying at IIT-Mandi and then this game became a source of his strength.
