GUWAHATI: India secured its sixth and seventh medals at the Paris Paralympics on Sunday, September 1, with bronze and silver from Preethi Pal and Nishad Kumar respectively.
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Sprinter Preethi Pal claimed her second bronze in the women’s 200m T35 event, adding to the bronze she had earlier won in the 100m. Nishad Kumar followed with a silver in the men’s high jump T47, replicating his second-place finish from the Tokyo Paralympics.
India's medal tally is set to rise further with three medals confirmed in Para Badminton. Suhas Yathiraj advanced to the Men’s Singles SL4 final by defeating Sukant Kadam 21-17, 21-12 in the semifinals. Kadam will now compete for bronze, while Yathiraj aims for gold. In the Men’s Singles SL3 event, Nitesh Kumar secured a place in the final by beating Japan's Daisuke Fujihara 21-16, 21-12.
In an all-Indian semi-final in women’s para-badminton, Thulasimathi Murugesan defeated Manisha Ramadass 23-21, 21-17, ensuring India's first female para-badminton medallist at the Paralympics. In the SH6 category, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan overcame Poland’s Oliwia Szmigiel in the quarterfinal but fell short against China’s Lin in the semifinals. She will now compete for a bronze medal.
In para archery, Rakesh Kumar narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth despite some impressive shooting. After a tense shoot-off win against Canada’s Kyle Tremblay in the quarterfinals, Kumar was defeated by China’s Ai Xinliang in the semis and then lost the bronze medal match to He Zihao.
Meanwhile, India's hopes in shooting were dashed as Avani Lekhara, Sidhartha Babu, and Sriharsha were unable to secure spots in the finals of their respective events.