From train accident to Paris Paralympics final, Nitesh Kumar engineers path to brink of glory

Daniel Bethell, the British SL3 finalist of para badminton, has known his arch-rival Pramod Bhagat’s game all too closely, all these years. The Indian defending champion missed out on the Paralympics from a whereabouts suspension. But Bethell might not find the path to gold a straightforward one, nor too many ready insights into the other Indian who will turn up against him at the Paris finals.

Nitesh Kumar, the highly skilled towering shuttler from Haryana, downed Japan’s Fujihara Daisuke 21-16, 21-12 in the semifinals at the Chapelle Arena. He has a unique approach heading into his first Paralympic finals, that will shield all tactics from Bethell and keep things under wraps – by not planning strategy himself. “I will discuss what game to play with my coach only tomorrow morning before the final. I don’t want to think about the final at all. I don’t want to stress myself out or waste the night’s sleep thinking about it because that will spoil my recovery,” he said immediately after booking the finals spot.

Bethell is a sharp opponent who’s been craving revenge for all lost finals, and titles denied. But the University educated shuttler from Bath with a fair number of academic papers to his name, will find an equally intrepid opponent in the new Indian.

Nitesh is a trained engineer, who suffered an unfortunate train accident when he fell out of a moving coach during college, needing prosthetics on his left foot. A strapping 6 footer with a wicked reverse drop on the court, he had always liked badminton, but got serious about it in the last few years. Playing mixed doubles alongside Thulasimathi Murugesan, he spent his last six weeks before heading out to Paris, at the Pullela Gopichand academy, for a specific skills bootcamp. A cerebral player, he’s been shaping up for this big final, but is aware that things can go wild at the Games.

After drubbing the Japanese in the semis, Nitesh would say, “I’m not thinking it’s my first Paralympic or first-ever final. I have been performing so consistently that this wasn’t unexpected and I had the self-belief. But it’s amazing to make finals because I’ve realised in the pressure of the Paralympics, cheezein ulat pulat ho jaati (things go topsy turvy in pressure) and we lost mixed doubles in the group stage. But I didn’t let that affect me,” he said confidently.

Strokeful player

Nitesh came into the sport with a helpful build beyond his left leg amputation, but also a reputation in Para circles for playing fancy badminton, and flashy strokes. One of the most strokeful players, his overflowing talent needed direction. Gopichand would assign three of his top coaches to rotate in surprise sessions. “He has good height, and everything in defence, attack and strokes is good,” explains coach Rajendra Kumar. “But we shuffled his sessions, to add variations of three different playing styles so he would get used to different players,” he added.

Nitesh is known to perfectly execute plans on court with pithy instructions, and he picked his 8th win against the Japanese after losing to him 6 on the trot at the start. “We worked on his skills and fitness but also stroke selection. He’s very intelligent but we just wanted to sharpen the quality of his strokes. His discipline and punctuality are top class and he takes good care of his fitness and diet,” Rajendra added.

Against Bethell, Nitesh had come close to beating the Britisher but lost steam from 16-all, suffering a leg strain last time. “Tomorrow will also be a long match. Now we are just thinking of food & good sleep,” Rajendra reiterated. India is defending the SL3 gold, though Bethell starts as favourite. Nitesh though prides himself in processing plans very fast, and can guard and unveil plans with aplomb.

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