Paris Paralympics 2024: Nitesh Kumar Books Spot in Final to Assure India Another Medal

New Delhi: India’s Para-badminton player Nitesh Kumar entered the badminton men’s singles SL3 final at the Paris Paralympics 2024. Nitesh is now assured of at least a silver for the nation. He defeated Daisuke Fujihara of Japan in the semi-finals. Nitesh outclassed his Japanese opponent by 21-16, 21-12 in straight games to book his place into the finals.

The top-seeded Indian had topped Group A, which featured another Indian, Manoj Sarkar by winning all three matches. Nitesh will be up against Great Britain’s second seed Daniel Bethell in the final as they will fight for the gold medal on 2nd September. Bethell has come into the final after beating Thailand’s Bunsun Mongkhon 21-7, 21-9 in the other semifinal. The British star was the topper in Group B, registering his own hat-trick of wins.

Nitesh’s semifinal win assures India will return with a medal in the SL3 event, a category in which Pramod Bhagat had clinched gold in the last Paralympics. Bhagat, who was suspended for 18 months due to whereabouts failures, had defeated Britain’s Bethell in the final in Tokyo three years ago.