Paris 2024 Paralympics: Nitesh Kumar conquers mental battle to win gold medal in badminton thriller

By Ali Asgar Nalwala
2 min|
Indian badminton player Nitesh Kumar with his gold medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
Picture by Getty Images
Para Badminton

India’s Nitesh Kumar pulled off a stunning 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 win over Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Daniel Bethell of Great Britain to win the gold medal in the men’s singles badminton SL3 class at the Paris 2024 Paralympics on Monday.

The 29-year-old Indian para-badminton player took one hour and 20 minutes to win the title, ensuring India’s second straight gold medal in the SL3 class event. Pramod Bhagat won the gold medal at Tokyo 2020 in the same class with a win over the same opponent.

Interestingly, It was Nitesh Kumar’s first win over Daniel Bethell in 10 attempts. The British badminton player threatened to keep his unbeaten run alive with a late surge in the third game but the world No. 1 Indian held his nerves to clinch a gold medal on his Paralympic Games debut.

"Even before stepping onto the court, I knew it was going to be a mental game. I just wanted to keep my calm and that worked for me in the first set,” Nitesh Kumar, a graduate from the Indian Institutes of Technology, said after the match.

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“In the second set, I was leading and then somewhere in between I lost my focus and got too eager to get points. That is when he took some amazing points.

"In the third set, it was very close. I got some good points, he got some good points, but in the end, I knew it was going to be a mental game and I could keep my calm and pull it off."

The Indian para-badminton player celebrated his win by throwing his shirt into the crowd while Daniel Bethell coped with his second straight loss in a Paralympic final.

Nitesh lost his leg after a train accident in 2009 and was later inspired by Pramod Bhagat to take up badminton in SL3 class.

SL3 class players can compete standing but have lower limb impairment and balance problems walking or running.

This was India’s ninth Paralympic medal at Paris 2024 and second gold medal. Avani Lekhara won the gold medal in the 10m air rifle shooting standing in SH1 class on Friday.