Indian para shuttler Thulasimathi Murugesan assured India of their 8th medal at the Paralympics 2024. She stormed into the gold medal match by beating her compatriot Manisha Ramadass in the Women's SU5 semi-final during the wee hours on Monday. It was a hard-fought contest between the two Indians, and it was Murugesan who prevailed in the end as she managed to beat Ramadass 23-21, 21-17 in just under 40 minutes. After the loss in the semi-final, Ramadass will compete in the bronze medal match as she still stood a chance to win a Paralympic medal.
The first game turned out to be tightly contested as both the players were determined and showcased their skills. Manisha saved multiple game points, but could not capitalise on the opportunities which she created. Murugesan won the first set 23-21. In the second game, Manisha started off strong as she took an 11-10 lead in the mid-game break. Murugesan made full use of the mistakes made by her opponent. She used a combination of precise drop shots and strategic placements to win the 2nd set as well, 21-17, and reach the final.
The top seed will face China's Yang Qiu Xia, who is a gold medallist from the Tokyo Paralympics, in the final match for gold. Meanwhile, Manisha will compete against Chathrine Rosengren from Denmark for the bronze medal match.
India secured seven medals at the Paralympic Games so far, with a gold and two silvers with four bronze medals. On Monday, Nishad Kumar also won a silver medal in the men's high jump T47. Para Sprinter Preeti Pal clinched the bronze medal in 200m T-35 with a time of 30.01 seconds on Sunday.
More glory awaits in Para Badminton as Nithya Sre and Sivarajan Solaimalai will aim for a podium finish in the mixed doubles bronze medal match.
Apart from them, Nitesh Kumar, Suhas Yathiraj and Thulusimathi Murugesan will be seen fighting for gold in their respective singles match.
Paralympics 2020 in Tokyo was India's most successful campaign with 19 medals, which included five gold, eight silvers and six bronze medals.
