Paris Paralympics: Contrasting fortunes for Yathiraj, Sarkar; Manisha, Thulasimathi start with wins
Paris: Tokyo Games medallists Suhas Yathiraj and Manoj Sarkar had a contrasting day as did Thulasimathi Murugesan and Manisha Ramadass as they won their respective matches in the badminton competitions at the Paralympic Games on Thursday. Tokyo 2020 silver winner Yathiraj had a mixed day while Sukant Kadam and Tarun Dhillon won their opening match in the group stage on the opening day of badminton competitions.
Yathiraj, who is an IAS officer of the 2007 batch of Uttar Pradesh cadre and has served as District Magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar & Prayagraj, started the day with a defeat in the Mixed Doubles SL3-SU 5 partnering Palak Kohli. They lost to compatriots Nitesh Kumar and Thulasimathi Murugesan 0-2 (14-21, 17-21) at Court 4 of the La Chapelle Arena in the French Capital.
The 41-year-old shuttler then came back a couple of hours later to start his campaign in the men’s singles SL4 on a rousing note, defeating Indonesia’s Hikmat Ramdani 21-7, 21-5 in just 22 minutes in his first match in Group A.
In the same SL4 category, India’s Sukant Kadam and Tarun Dhillon also won their first match in their respective groups. Yathiraj is the top seed in his category.
In Group B, Kadam started his campaign with a hard-fought three-game win over fourth seed Mohd Amin Burhanuddin of Malaysia. Kadam defeated the Malaysian 2-1 (17-21, 21-15, 22-20) in a 61-minute encounter. Thailand’s Siripong Teamarrom is the third player in the group.
In Group D, India’s 30-year-old Tarun Dhillon got the better of Brazil’s Rogerio Junior Xavier de Oliveira 2-0 (21-17, 21-19). Tarun had represented the country in the Tokyo Paralympics but had failed to win any medals.
In the Men’s Singles SL3 category, Tokyo Paralympics bronze medallist Manoj Sarkar went down to compatriot and top seed Nitesh Kumar in three games 1-2.
Sarkar, who is India’s biggest hope for a gold medal in the absence of Tokyo gold medallist Pramod Bhagat, lost his first Group Stage Play match 13-21, 21-18, 18-21 in a 52-minute clash on Court 3 at the La Chapelle Arena.
In the Women’s Singles SU5, Thulasimathi Murugesan started her campaign in Group A with a 2-0 win against Italy’s Rosa Efomo de Marco in the Group Play Stage. Thulsamathi defeated her opponent 21-9, 21-11 in a 24-minute encounter.
Manisha Ramdass also started with a win, beating France’s Maud Lefort 2-1, coming back after losing the first game to win 8-21, 21-6, 21-12. Sumathi Sivan Nithya Sre too won her Group A match in Women’s Singles SH6, beating American Jayci Simon 31-7, 21-8.
Earlier, India suffered setbacks in the Women’s Singles SL3 category as both Manasi Joshi and Mandeep Kaur lost their opening matches. The 35-year-old Manasi, who is making her Paralympic Games debut in Paris, ran into top seed Qonitah Ikhtiar Syakuroh of Indonesia in her first match in Group A and put up a superb fight before going down 1-2.
Manasi won the first game but lost the next two to lose the match 21-16, 13-21, 18-21. She put up a strong fight in the third game but could not go all the way. Ukraine’s Oksana Kozyna is the third player in the group.
In the Mixed Doubles SH6 section, India’s Sivarajan Solaimalai and Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan lost their opening match to the American combine of Miles Krajewski and Simon Jayci 0-2 (21-23, 11-21. All is not lost for the Indian pair as they need to beat the third pair in the group, Natthapong Meechai to keep their hopes alive to advance to the next stage as two pairs from the group will qualify for the semifinals.