02 September,2024 05:08 PM IST | Paris | mid-day online correspondent
Nitesh Kumar (Pic: PTI)
Nitesh Kumar clinched his maiden gold medal at the Paris Paralympics 2024 after beating Great Britain's Daniel Bethell in a thrilling men's singles SL3 badminton final here on Monday.
Nitesh who discovered his passion in badminton at IIT-Mandi, added a second gold to India's medal tally after shooter Avani Lekhra got his hands on the nation's first gold at the Paris Paralympics 2024 with a sensational display in the women's 10m air rifle final.
This win ensured that India retained the SL3 gold after Pramod Bhagat clinched the title three years ago when para badminton made its debut in Tokyo.
In a game that went right down the wire, Nitest ousted Daniel with a 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 win to claim his stake at the top of the podium.
The first set ensued between Nitesh and Daniel, a closely-knit affair. With both shuttles playing in a vertical half-court, rallies were quite longer.
With both shuttles going neck-to-neck, Daniel enjoyed a slender lead with the scoreline reading at 4-5. Daniel stayed in front midway through the first set with an 11-13 lead.
As the game progressed, Nitesh upped the ante in the second half of the first set to enforce his dominance over the Great Britain shuttler. A flurry of points saw him edge Daniel and wrap up the first set with a 21-14 lead.
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In the second set, it was Nitesh who took a slender 5-4 lead. Daniel tried to counterattack with in-body smashes. But the Indian, on several occasions, effectively negated it away with his defensive prowess.
Nitesh slowly extended his lead to three by luring Daniel into making informed errors. He either went too long or placed the shuttle too short, allowing Nitesh to stay in the lead.
Daniel retaliated by showcasing grit and display by winning three consecutive points to restore parity at 14-14.
The second set went right down the wire, with Nitesh taking a narrow one-point lead and Daniel breathing right down the Indian's neck by cutting short his lead.
The Englishman shifted through gears and increased the intensity by mixing smash and drop shots effectively. He eventually took the lead with a well-placed shot right at the line, which Nitesh couldn't lift across the net. His late surge saw him take two consecutive points to take the second set with an 18-21 win.
The shades of the first two sets were visible in the gold medal decider. Once again, it was a closely fought affair between the two shuttles. But Nitesh managed to take a slim lead at the halfway mark, with the scoreline reading 11-10.
Daniel tried to adopt an aggressive approach, and Nitesh replied with the same intensity to keep his one-point lead intact.
But unlike the previous set, Nitesh raised the bar and raced to a five-point lead to take a step closer to the gold medal.
But Daniel wasn't in the mood to let Nitesh get his hands on the gold medal so easily. With precision, he reduced Nitesh's lead to just a point.
He couldn't follow it up and struck the net, which allowed Nitesh to extend his lead to three points at 19-16.
As Nitesh stood just two points away from the gold medal, Daniel made the Indian dance to his tune and restored the parity at 19-19.
Nitesh netted the shuttle, leaving Daniel just one point away from the gold. Nitesh made it 21-21 with a drop shot, which Daniel couldn't get enough height. He then got his hands on the coveted gold after Daniel placed the shuttle outside the court. The crowd erupted with joy as Nitesh animatedly celebrated his win.
After settling the historic gold, both shuttles shook hands and exchanged jerseys with each other.
Nitesh arrived in the final after defeating Japan's Daisuke Fujihara in straight sets, 21-16, 21-12, in the semifinals.
(With agency inputs)
