Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist and Noida District Magistrate Suhas L Yathiraj has pulled out of the ongoing Para-Badminton National championship here in Bhubaneswar.
The ongoing Para-Badminton National Championship will see the 'Golden Boy' of Odisha Pramod Bhagat, who won India's first-ever badminton gold at the Paralympics, featuring in the tournament.
Along with Pramod and other star attractions, Suhas Yathiraj would have been in action in the tournament but the para-shuttler pulled out of the showpiece event due to personal reasons.
"Suhas Yathiraj was slated to play in the tournament but unfortunately he has to withdraw his name due to personal reasons," a source close to the star shuttler told ANI.
Odisha Sports Minister Tusharkanti Behera inaugurated the fourth National Para-Badminton Championship which began on Friday here.
More than 400 shuttlers will be in action in the showpiece event. Suhas Yathiraj would have begun his campaign on Saturday directly from the quarter-finals in the (SL4) category but the shuttler pulled out of the tournament. Suhas was recently conferred the prestigious Arjuna Award.
Meanwhile, along with Pramod, gold medallist, Krishna Nagar from SH 6 category, Manoj Sarkar, Sukant Kadam, Parul Parmar, Manasi Joshi, Palak Kohli, Tarun Dhillon, Prem Kumar Ale, Raj Kumar, and many more shuttlers will be in action on Saturday.
Krishna Nagar said he is very excited to play in the tournament and there is no pressure on him despite being out of touch from the game in the last few months.
"The Para-Badminton National championship is my first tournament after the Tokyo Paralympics 2020. So I am very excited about the tournament and my aim is to give my best in the competition," Krishna told ANI.
"There is no pressure on me, every player is different and one should aim to give his best. A national-level competition is your base, even if you don't play Olympics, the National Championships like these form the base for your game," he added.
Para Sports Association of Odisha along with the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs government of Odisha is organizing the Para-Badminton National championship.
The three-day mega sporting event will be held at two venues, Railway Indoor Stadium, Bhubaneswar in association with K.C. Memorial Trust, and Udaan Badminton Academy from December 24 to 26 under the aegis of Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) and Badminton Association of India.
( With inputs from ANI )
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