‘Bhagat’s absence gave extra responsibility to win gold at Paris’

New Delhi: India’s gold medal winner in badminton men’s singles Nitesh Kumar on Wednesday said Pramod Bhagat’s absence from the Paris Paralympics gave him “extra responsibility” to win the title. Nitesh, who clinched the gold in men’s singles SLC category, Thulasimathi Murugesan (silver), Suhas Yathiraj (silver), Manisha Ramadass (bronze) and Nithya Sre Sivan (bronze) were on Wednesday felicitated by the minister of youth affairs and sports Mansukh Mandaviya for their feat here at the SAI headquarters.

Nitesh said his mantra was to take it one game at a time at the Paralympics after Bhagat was suspended for 18 months ahead of the Para Games. “I thought of taking one game at a time, going out there as world No 1, first seed, it was a responsibility for me to win the title, especially when Pramod was unable to participate in the Paralympics,” he told PTI in an exclusive interaction. “It was an extra responsibility for me to go out and win for India.

Entering the final, I knew it would be intense and mentally tough for both of us. I had the confidence to be superior to him and be at my best”, he added. Sports minister Mandaviya lauded the Indian contingent for recording the country’s best-ever medal haul and hoped the athletes would win more medals in the remainder of the competition. “We’ll cheer for Bharat and in the coming days, our players will fight for 11 more medals. I believe that the way our players are performing in the Paralympics, they have a bright future ahead,” he said.

“India still has a chance to win 11 more medals at the Paralympics,” said Mandaviya. Yathiraj, who defended his silver medal from Tokyo, ruled out retiring anytime soon. “Winning the silver medal is a challenge in itself. Every player wants to win the gold and the disappointment remains when they don’t win,” said Yathiraj. “Life’s a journey and I want to live this moment, not thinking much about my future in the game right now,” he said while talking about his retirement. Murugesan said, “I am happy with silver. I think I have to work harder for changing the colour of my medal.”

Head coach Gaurav Khanna hoped India’s medal count will improve in the next edition. “We aimed to win 8-10 medals but had to settle with five. We hope that we will achieve our goals in the 2028 edition,” he said.