Tokyo Paralympics: IAS Suhas Yathiraj Wins Silver, Loses In Final Of Badminton Singles (SL4)

Tokyo Paralympics: India's Suhas Yathiraj takes home silver, loses to Lucas Mazur of France in the badminton men's singles (SL4) final. He is the first IAS officer to do so.

Suhas Yathiraj (Image - Twitter /@ShivAroor)

Suhas Yathiraj has become the first Indian Administrative Services (IAS) person to win a silver medal at the Paralympic Games. He lost to Lucas Mazur of France in the badminton men's singles final of the SL4 category. Yathiraj lost  21-15, 17-21, 15-21 in the final.  He is currently the District Magistrate of Noida. 

Despite winning the first game, the 36-year old Indian could not hold on to the lead and lost the subsequent two games to lose out on the gold medal. Nonetheless, it was a spirited performance by the 2007 IAS recruit to win the silver medal at the games. He is the first IAS officer to be taking part in the Paralympic Games. 

That was tense! It's Lucas Mazur #FRA who takes #Gold in the men's singles SL4 final 👏#Badminton #Silver for Suhas Yathiraj #IND after a super close match! pic.twitter.com/GviVrspquT

— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) September 5, 2021

With this win, India has secured their 18th medal in this year's Paralympics. India so far has four golds, eight silver, and six bronze medals. This is India's best performance at the Paralympics by some margin. India had 12 medals before the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics began, while now, India has 30. It's an extremely positive sign for sports and para-sports in India. 

Suhas Yathiraj had eased into the final by winning all matches in straight sets. He defeated Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan 21-9, 21-15 in the semi-finals. In his previous matches too, he had a one-sided contest. 

A fantastic confluence of service and sports! @dmgbnagar Suhas Yathiraj has captured the imagination of our entire nation thanks to his exceptional sporting performance. Congratulations to him on winning the Silver medal in Badminton. Best wishes to him for his future endeavours. pic.twitter.com/bFM9707VhZ

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 5, 2021

Earlier in the games, Manish Narwal and Singhraj Adhana became the first members of India to share a podium, finishing 1-2 in the Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 Final, winning gold and silver medals, both.