New Delhi, Sep 2 India had a great day at the 2024 Paralympics Games in Paris on Monday as the country crept up to 22nd position in the standings and took the medal tally to nine through para-badminton player Nitesh Kumar’s gold and discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya’s silver medal in their respective categories.
Following their achievement, India’s sporting legend Sachin Tendulkar penned a congratulatory message for the para-athletes on social media for their ‘phenomenal performances’.
“Gold and Silver! Congratulations to @niteshnk11 and @YogeshKathuniya for their phenomenal performances at the Paris Paralympics! Nitesh, your victory in the Paralympic badminton final was nothing short of spectacular. You played with such tenacity and grace. And Yogesh, you have done it again! Winning your second consecutive silver medal in the discus throw is an incredible achievement. You showed us all just how far you’re willing to go in the pursuit of excellence. You both have made India proud!,” read the post by Sachin Tendulkar on X, formerly Twitter.
Nitesh Kumar won India’s second gold medal of the 2024 edition of the Games against Britain's Daniel Bethell in the badminton Men's Singles SL3 category with the scoreline of 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 at the La Chapelle Arena Court 1 in the French Capital. Nitesh topped Group A with three successive wins to progress to the semifinal along with Thailand's Mongkhon Bunsun from the same group.
The SL3 category is for players with movement moderately affected on one side of the body, both legs or the absence of limbs. They play standing on a half-width court and have reduced court movement but a full range of shots.
Yogesh Kathuniya on the other hand won the silver medal in the Men's Discus Throw - F56 event with a season's best throw. Kathuniya recorded the throw of 42.22m to take the silver behind Brazil's Claudiney Batista dos Santos, who clinched gold with a Paralympic record throw of 46.86m. Konstantinos Tzounis of Greece took the bronze with a best throw of 41.32.
Kathuniya marked his silver winning throw in his very first attempt and followed it up with throws of 41.50, 41.55, 40.33, 40.89 and 39.68 metres.
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