For a country constantly yearning for Olympic and Paralympic medals - one that witnessed a double-digit tally for the first time only in 2021 - snaring eight podium finishes in a single day is nothing short of revolutionary. Monday, September 2, 2024 will forever be remembered as that red-letter day for Indian sports, as the nation's Paralympians collectively rose to the occasion in Paris. (Full Coverage | More Sports News)
Two gold, three silver and three bronze medals in less than 12 hours made it India's most fruitful day (medal-wise) in the country's Paralympic and Olympic history. The previous best was five medals - two gold, two silver and one bronze in Tokyo on August 30, 2021, incidentally also a Monday.
Sumit Antil and Yogesh Kathuniya were the common links between the two glorious days, as the duo medalled similarly on both occasions. While Sumit became the first Indian man to defend a Paralympics title, claiming back-to-back golds in the javelin throw F64 event, Yogesh struck silver in Tokyo as well as Paris in the men's discus throw F56 category.
Badminton Bonanza
Going into Monday, India's para shuttlers had already assured themselves of at least three medals, by way of entering three finals. By the end, they emerged with five medals in hand.
Nitesh Kumar headlined the efforts, playing out of his skin to prevail over Daniel Bethell of Great Britain and clinch the men's singles SL3 gold in a pulsating encounter. The enormity of Nitesh's achievement could be gauged by the fact that he had a 0-9 head-to-head record against Bethell, going into this gold medal match.
But the 29-year-old IIT Mandi graduate elevated his gameplay when it mattered, winning the match 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 in a nail-biting finish.
Later in the day, Suhas Yathiraj was outplayed 9-21, 13-21 by Frenchman Lucas Mazur in the SL4 men's singles final. Nevertheless, he became the only Indian para badminton player to win back-to-back medals at the Games, with a second straight silver.
Thulasimathi Murugesan too found a silver lining after being defeated 17-21, 10-21 by defending champion Yang Qiu Xia, but leaving one's debut Paralympics as a silver medallist is no mean feat.
Manisha Ramadass and Nithya Sre Sivan unleashed dominant performances in their respective third-place matches to add two bronze to the tally.
Rare Archery Podium
They both faced disappointments in their respective individual campaigns, but Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar found redemption via an utterly hard-fought bronze medal in the mixed team compound open competition. The duo, an interesting combination of youth (17-year-old Sheetal) and experience (Rakesh, 39), maintained its composure and found four 10s in the final set to edge out Italy's Eleonora Sarti and Matteo Bonacina by a solitary point.
The medal was just reward for Sheetal's spectacular, world-class talent and Rakesh's years of perseverance. The 39-year-old had missed out on bronze by just one point, the previous day and crossing the line this time would have been extra sweet.
It was only the second time that India bagged a medal in Paralympics in archery. Harvinder Singh had secured an individual bronze at the Tokyo edition, three years ago.
