Paris Paralympics: World No.1 shuttler Nitesh Kumar beats Brit Bethell for first time to clinch biggest title of career

One of the most famous sports quotes of all time belongs to tennis player Vitas Gerulaitis. By beating Jimmy Connors in the Masters Championships at Madison Square Garden in 1980, Gerulaitis ended a long streak of losses. Connors had got the better of him 16 times in a row. Gerulaitis said, “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row.”

It is hard to say if something similar came to Nitesh Kumar’s mind after he beat Daniel Bethell of Great Britain in the gold medal match of Men’s Singles SL3 Badminton at the Paris Paralympics on Monday. But the sentiment could have been similar. Nobody beats Nitesh Kumar 10 times in a row, perhaps. The Indian, who had not defeated Bethell in their nine past meetings, found a way in the biggest match of his life. Nitesh beat Bethell 21-14 18-21 23-21 in an 80-minute thriller to win India’s second gold medal of the Paris Games.

Intriguingly, world No 1 Nitesh came into this match as the underdog against world No 2 Bethell. Indeed, it was not lost on Nitesh, who had spoken after his semifinal about not being able to find a way against the Brit in the past. “I haven’t won against him yet, but we’ve had some interesting games,” he had said. “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.”

And whatever he did worked like a treat. For the most part. The final began as most top matches in SL3 para badminton category do. “Standing Lower 3” refers to the category for players with severe lower limb disabilities and matches are played on only half the court, with the centre line acting as the out-line. In the restricted space, it is not easy to manufacture winners, and it requires a whole lot of patience, fitness and a sprinkling of creativity to find angles. Rallies that extend beyond two minutes are quite common.

Paris 2024 Paralympics – Badminton – Men’s Singles SL3 – Gold Medal Match – Porte de La Chapelle Arena, Paris, France – September 2, 2024 Kumar Nitesh of India celebrates after winning gold against Daniel Bethell of Britain. (REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini)

Both players started the match patiently, careful not to give each other any early momentum. Then came a marathon rally after the mid-game interval when they extended the point to 162 seconds and 122 shots. The point eventually went to Bethell, who let out a big roar, but it proved to be a turning point for Nitesh.

Change of plan

After a brief breather, the 29-year-old Indian switched up his tactics, and started using his variations more. A wonderful stroke-player, Nitesh had been trusting his defence till that point but the smashes and reverse-slice drops kicked in as he raced through to take the opening game 21-14.

The second game was much tighter and a proper back-and-forth affair till the very end. Nitesh missed a big chance to take a 19-17 lead with Bethell stranded on the court, but sent a lift long. Bethell then closed it out from there, put up his arm and let out a roar, as the match was back in the balance.

The third game too was on a knife edge for the most part but at 15-10 it seemed Nitesh had things under control with Bethell showing signs of frustration. But the Tokyo silver medallist fought back once more, and both men had match point opportunities that were saved. In the end, it was Nitesh who took the decider 23-21.

“Even before stepping onto the court, I knew it was going to be a mental game. I just wanted to keep calm and that worked for me in the first game,” Nitesh said after the match. “In the second game, I was leading and then somewhere in between I lost my focus and got too eager to get points. That is when he played some amazing points. In the third, it was very close. I got some good points, he got some good points, but in the end I knew it was going to be mental and I could keep my calm and pull it off.”

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A train accident in 2009 in Vizag left Nitesh bedridden for months and resulted in permanent leg damage. But during his time pursuing Electrical Engineering at IIT-Mandi, he developed a love for badminton. And in Paris, he problem-solved his way like a good engineer, beating his bugbear Bethell when it mattered the most.

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