Suhas Yathiraj, ranked World No. 3 and a Paralympic silver medalist, achieved a significant upset by defeating World No. 1 Lucas Mazur of France in the men’s singles SL4 semi-final.
This victory marks Yathiraj’s first appearance in the finals of this prestigious championship. Notably, Yathiraj is an accomplished IAS officer hailing from Karnataka, currently serving as the Secretary and Director General of Youth Welfare and Prantiya Rakshak Dal in the Uttar Pradesh government.
In another SL4 semi-final, Sukant Kadam faced a defeat against Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan, ending his campaign in the tournament.
Pramod Bhagat, the Paralympic gold medalist, emerged victorious in the men’s singles SL3 class semi-final against Indian Manoj Sarkar. Bhagat will confront England’s Daniel Bethell in the finals.
Krishna Nagar, also a Paralympic gold medal winner, secured his place in the SH6 category finals by defeating Vitor Tavares of Brazil. Nagar is set to face China’s Lin Naili in the finals.
In women’s singles SU5, Manisha Ramadass won her semi-final match against France’s Maud Lefort, advancing to the summit clash against China’s Yang Qiu Xia.
Furthermore, Rachana Shaileshkumar and Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan progressed to the finals in SH6 women’s doubles, while Chirag Baretha and Raj Kumar in men’s doubles, and Mandeep Kaur and Manisha Ramadass in women’s doubles, advanced to the semi-finals, ensuring medals for themselves in the tournament.
Although Nithye Sre, Palak Kohli, and Manisha Girishchandra lost their respective semi-final matches, they secured bronze medals in their categories.
Additionally, Pramod Bhagat and Sukant Kadam settled for bronze in men’s doubles SL3-SL4 after a defeat against the Thai pair of Mongkhon Bunsun and Siripong Teamarrom.
(With PTI inputs)
