Paralympics in Paris: Top shuttler in the world Nitesh Kumar wins his greatest career title after defeating Brit Bethell for the first time. After saving match point, Indian, who had lost their previous nine meetings, triumphed in an intense eighty-minute match.
Player of tennis Vitas Gerulaitis is credited with one of the most well-known sports quotations ever. In the 1980 Masters Championship match at Madison Square Garden, Gerulaitis reversed a lengthy losing skid by defeating Jimmy Connors. He had lost to Connors sixteen times in a row. “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row,” declared Gerulaitis.
It’s difficult to say if Nitesh Kumar thought of anything comparable after defeating Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell in Monday’s gold medal match in men’s singles SL3 badminton at the Paris Paralympics. However, the feeling might have been the same. Maybe no one can defeat Nitesh Kumar ten times in a row. In the most important match of his life, the Indian—who had not triumphed against Bethell in their previous nine meetings—found a way. In an intense 80-minute match, Nitesh defeated Bethell 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 to secure India’s second gold medal at the Paris Games.
World No. 1 Nitesh entered this intriguing match against world No. 2 Bethell as the underdog. Nitesh, who had mentioned after his semifinal that he had previously struggled to overcome the Brit, was aware of this. He had stated, “We’ve had some interesting games, but I haven’t won against him yet.” “I want to completely avoid thinking about the final. I don’t want to hinder my recuperation by worrying myself into the ground or wasting the night sleeping on it.
And everything he tried seemed to work perfectly. most of the time. As most of the best matches in the SL3 para badminton category, the final got underway. Matches are played on only half of the court, with the centre line serving as the out-line, and are known as ‘Standing Lower 3’ games for players with significant lower limb limitations. It is difficult to create winners in the little area; finding angles calls for a great deal of endurance, physical fitness, and inventiveness. Rallies lasting more than two minutes are not unusual.
