Para shuttler Suhas Yathiraj scripted history on Sunday as he became the first India Administrative Service (IAS) officer to claim a medal at the Paralympics. Though the Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate lost to top seed French rival Lucas Mazur in the men’s singles SL4 class final, the journey at the marquee event was enough to earn him a place in the annals of the IAS.
The 2007-batch IAS officer, who has an impairment in one of his ankles, graduated as a computer engineer from NIT Karnataka with a distinction and has previously served as the DM of Prayagraj, Agra, Azamgarh, Jaunpur and Sonbhadra districts.
For the last one and a half years, he was at the forefront of the Covid pandemic management in Gautam Buddh Nagar since his appointment on March 30, 2020. Suhas basically practiced at night after working in the day. “We thought that he may win gold, anyway, he has brought laurels to India,” Suhas’ mother Jayashree said.
After taking up the sport professionally around 2016, he clinched his first major gold medal at the Asian Championship in the same year. When asked how he would like to be recognised — as a DM or a medalist — he chose the third option. “I would like to be known as a person, who can help in inspiring others. ... I want more youngsters to take their first step towards what they want. If they look at my success and they take those first steps, that is a great success for me,” Suhas said, after bagging the silver medal.
Para shuttlers help India sign off on a high
India finished the Tokyo Paralympics with their best medal tally ever — 19 medals (5 gold, 8 silver and 6 bronze). The final day saw India win two more medals courtesy of the shuttlers to finish 24th in the overall standings.
Shuttler Krishna Nagar won gold
in the men’s singles SH6 category after beating Hong Kong’s Man Kai Chu 21-17, 16-21, 21-17 in the final on Sunday.
Fellow shuttler
Suhas Yathiraj claimed a silver medal in the men’s singles SL4 category. He lost to top seed Lucas Mazur of France 21-15, 17-21, 15-21 in the final.
Two shooters, Singhraj Adhana and Avani Lekhara, bagged two medals each. While Adhana won silver in the 50m pistol (SH1) event and bronze in the men's 10m air pistol (SH1) event, Avani won gold in the women's 10m air rifle (SH1) event and bronze in the 50m rifle 3 positions (SH1) event. In the process, Avani became the first Indian woman to claim two medals in a single Paralympics.