India's Nitesh Kumar secured his place in the semifinals of the para badminton competition at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris with an impressive victory over China's Yang Jianyuan. In their second men's singles SL3 Group A match on Friday, Nitesh dominated the game, winning in straight sets 21-5, 21-11. The 29-year-old from Karnal, Haryana, who has faced a permanent leg injury from a 2009 accident, showed remarkable skill on the court.
Having won both of his group matches, Nitesh is guaranteed to finish in the top two of his four-man group, which ensures his spot in the semifinals. He will play against Thailand's Bunsun Mongkhon in his final group match.
Unfortunately, Manasi Joshi and Manoj Sarkar did not advance. Manasi, the 2019 World Champion, narrowly lost to Ukraine’s Oksana Kozyna with scores of 21-10, 15-21, 21-23 in her second women's singles SL3 Group A match. She had also lost her opening match to Indonesia’s Qonitah Ikhtiar Syakuroh.
Similarly, Tokyo bronze medallist Manoj Sarkar faced another defeat, going down 19-21, 8-21 against Bunsun in his second Group A match. He had previously lost to Nitesh and will play against Yang in his final group game.
The SL3 class, which Nitesh and the others compete in, is designated for athletes with more severe lower limb disabilities, and matches are played on a half-width court.
On Thursday night, Nitesh and Thulasimathi Murugesan lost their second mixed doubles SL3-SU5 group stage match to Indonesia’s Ramdani Hikmat and Oktila leani Ratri with scores of 15-21, 8-21. Suhas Yathiraj and Palak Kohli also fell short in their mixed doubles Group A match, losing 15-21, 9-21 to France's Lucas Mazur and Faustine Noel.
The SU5 class includes athletes with upper limb impairments.
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