Krishna Nagar wins India's second-ever Paralympic gold in badminton
Krishna Nagar clinched India's second-ever Paralympic gold medal in badminton on Sunday. The Indian defeated Chu Man Kai 21-17, 16-21, 17-21 in the final of the men's singles SH6 at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Earlier, Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj finished with a historic silver medal after losing the men's singles SL4 class final to top seed Lucas Mazur. Here are further details.
How did the final pan out?
Although Krishna started well, Man Kai gave came back strongly. He gained a slender lead in the mid-game interval. Krishna was trailing 15-17 before he won six consecutive points to win the first set. The Hong Kong shuttler took the match to the decider after winning the second game. The third game was evenly poised at 17-16 but Krishna shined in the dying minutes.
Second gold-medalist from India in badminton
Krishna has become India's second gold-medalist in badminton at the Paralympics. Previously, Pramod Bhagat clinched the first-ever Paralympic medal for India in badminton. The Indian secured the gold medal after beating Great Britain's Daniel Bethell in the men's singles SL3 final. He had become the first Indian to qualify for the gold-medal clash in badminton at the Paralympics.
In April, Krishna won two gold medals in Dubai
Krishna, who hails from Rajasthan, has a short-stature impairment. At the 2018 Para Asian Games in Indonesia, Krishna won bronze medal in the singles event. He won a bronze (singles) and a silver medal (doubles) at the Para Badminton World Championships in Basel in 2019. Earlier this year, Krishna claimed two gold medals at the Dubai 2021 Para Badminton International.
Suhas Yathiraj wins silver
Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj gave India their first medal on Sunday at the Tokyo Paralympics. He lost to France's Lucas Mazur in the gold-medal clash, thereby settling for a silver. Suhas had lost to Mazur in the Group A match as well. Notably, Suhas is an IAS officer (2007 UP cadre) and is presently the District Magistrate (DM) of Gautam Budhh Nagar, UP.
Suhas achieved this historic feat in 2016
Suhas clinched gold in the 2016 Asia Championships. Back then, he he was serving as the DM of Azamgarh. In the process, Suhas became the first-ever serving Indian bureaucrat to win a medal for India at a global level.
India's largest-ever medal haul at Paralympic Games
India have now won a total of 19 medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. This is their largest-ever medal haul at a Paralympic Games. The tally includes a record five gold, eight silver, and six bronze medals. Before this, India had won four medals each at the at the 1984 Stoke Mandeville and New York Paralympics and 2016 Rio Paralympics.
