Paris Paralympics 2024: Indian Para-Shuttler Nithya Sre Sivan Secures Bronze Medal In Women’s SH6 Category

New Delhi: Indian para-shuttler Nithya Sre Sivan clinched her first-ever Paralympic medal, earning a bronze in the women’s SH6 category at the ongoing Paris Paralympics 2024. She delivered a commanding performance, defeating Indonesia’s Rina Marlina 21-14, 21-6 on Monday to secure her spot on the podium.

Worse still was the prospect for India’s Nithya Sre Sivan, who had a daunting task in the semifinals of the Women’s Para-Badminton Singles SH6 at the Paris Paralympics 2024, as she went down to Chinese opponent Lin Shuangbao 13-21, 19-21.

It was a decent Monday for India, as they picked up four medals on the day, with one gold courtesy Nitesh Kumar, beating Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell in the men’s singles SL3 category. India also grabbed two silvers through the performances of Thulasimathi Murugesan and Suhas Yathiraj, while a bronze came from Manisha Ramadass in para-badminton.

In a game that went right down to the wire, Nitesh ousted Daniel with a 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 win to claim his place at the top of the podium.

Murugesan faced a tough battle against China’s Yang Qiu Xia in the women’s para-badminton final, losing the first set 21-17. In the second set, her form dipped, resulting in a 21-10 defeat and earning her a silver medal.

In the same event’s bronze medal match, Manisha Ramadass delivered a dominant performance, defeating Denmark’s Cathrine Rosengren 21-12, 21-8 to add another medal for India.

Meanwhile, in the men’s singles SL4 category, Suhas Yathiraj couldn’t overcome France’s Lucas Mazur, who cruised to victory in straight sets, 21-9, 21-13, handing Suhas a tough defeat.

By the close of Day 5 at the Paris Paralympics, India ranked 15th on the medal tally with a total of 15 medals, including three golds, five silvers, and seven bronzes.

India’s first gold at the Paralympics came courtesy of para-shooter Avani Lekhara, who dominated the final in the women’s 10m air rifle event, securing the top spot with a personal best of 249.7 points. Mona Agarwal also contributed by clinching bronze in the same event.

In the men’s 10m air pistol SH1 event, Manish Narwal started strong but fell to sixth midway through the competition. However, a comeback saw him clinch silver with 234.9 points.

Francis secured another bronze for India in the P2 Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 final after a solid performance.

Preeti earned third place in the 100m T35 event with a time of 14.21 seconds, adding another bronze to her tally. She followed this up with her second bronze in the 200m T35 race after another impressive display.

High jumper Nishad Kumar secured a silver medal in the men’s T47 event with a leap of 2.04m, contributing to India’s growing medal count.

India’s Yogesh Kathuniya further boosted the team’s performance by winning silver in the men’s Discus Throw F56 final.

In archery, Rakesh Kumar and Sheetal Devi captured bronze in the Mixed Team Compound event with a thrilling 156-155 victory over Italy’s Eleonora Sarti and Matteo Bonnacina.

Sumit Antil retained his gold medal in the men’s javelin throw F64 final with a record-breaking performance, achieving India’s third gold of the games.