New Delhi: Nitesh Kumar on Monday ensured the Paralympics gold medal in men’s singles SL3 was retained by India. The 29-year-old triumphed over Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell in an enticing final of an hour and 20 minutes at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena in the ongoing Paris Paralympics.
Banking on his solid defensive game, Nitesh held the nerves in crunch situations to win 21-14 18-21 23-21 in a thrilling fashion. After Pramod Bhagat, the reigning gold medallist at Tokyo Paralympics 2020, was suspended due to whereabout failures.
Nitesh Kumar’s train accident and IIT graduation
Nitesh Kumar was born on December 30, 1994, in Rajasthan’s Bas Kirtan village. Meeting with an accident in train at the age of 14 in Vizag in 2009 left him bed-ridden for months and eventually led to a permanent leg damage.
A football enthusiast, Nitesh Kumar is an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi graduate in electrical engineering. It was at the institute where he developed interests for badminton.
The setback of his permanent leg damage didn’t hamper the Rajasthan-born to play the shuttle with the racket. While competing with the able-bodied athletes, Nitesh developed his skills in badminton during his break period from academics.
Para badminton journey kicks off
It was in 2016 when Nitesh kicked off his career in para sports after playing badminton regularly in his final year of college, according to Indian Express. He made his debut at the national-level competition while representing Haryana at the Para Nationals in Faridabad.
He claimed silver medal in singles and bronze medal in doubles events in the 2017 nationals in Bengaluru to make his mark in the domestic circuit. In the 2020 para nationals, Nitesh made a quantum jump in the domestic circuit after defeating ace shuttlers Pramod Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar to clinch gold medal.
Nitesh Kumar International achievements
Nitesh Kumar has won three medals at Para World Badminton Championships – a silver and a bronze each in men’s singles along with a doubles silver with Thulasimathi Murugesan. He has claimed four medals at the Asian Para Games with three of them coming last year in Hangzhou, including a gold in men’s doubles. The gold in Paralympics is the pinnacle of his sporting career.
Nitesh Kumar was born on December 30, 1994, in Rajasthan’s Bas Kirtan village. Meeting with an accident in train at the age of 14 in Vizag in 2009 left him bed-ridden for months and eventually led to a permanent leg damage. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
