Suhas Yathiraj added to India’s medal tally at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 as per TNN. Yathiraj lost to Lucas Mazur in the final of the men’s singles SL4 event. He finished with silver.
DD
Up against top seed Mazur in the final, Yathiraj produced a brilliant performance and won the first game convincingly against the Frenchman. He claimed the first game 21-15 after racing away to an early 11-8 lead. However, what followed next was an incredible comeback from Mazur, who clinched the next game 17-21 despite trailing 8-11 at one point.
In the decisive third game, Yathiraj made a stunning start once again as he raced away to a healthy lead of 4-1. However, Mazur showed his class and experience once again as he brought the scores to level at 9-9 after a closely contested battle of over 53 minutes in the final.
AFP
Yathiraj went ahead 11-10 in the third game with a glimmer of hope that he will once again extend his dominance over the Frenchman. However, Mazur brought his A-game to the fore in the final minutes of the summit clash as he absolutely decimated the 38-year-old Indian with some cracking shots. He stormed to a 17-13 lead before wrapping up the game 21-15 in his favour to clinch gold.
Yathiraj is an IAS officer, who is currently posted as a district magistrate of Noida since 2020. A role model both on and off the court, Yathiraj had played an instrumental role in Noida’s fight against COVID-19 after being appointed as the DM of the district last year. He has won gold medals at the 2017 BWF Para-Badminton Championship and 2016 Asia Championships.