Tokyo silver medallist Suhas Yathiraj and Nitesh Kumar secured spots in the men’s singles semifinals at the Paralympics on Friday. Suhas won in the SL4 category by defeating Korea’s Shin Kyung Hwan, while Nitesh dominated China’s Yang Jianyuan in the SL3 category.
Nitesh, who faces Thailand’s Bunsun Mongkhon next, has overcome significant personal challenges since a 2009 accident. In contrast, Manasi Joshi and Manoj Sarkar, both past medallists, suffered their second consecutive defeats, ending their semifinal hopes. Manasi lost to Ukraine’s Oksana Kozyna, while Manoj was defeated by Bunsun.
In mixed doubles, Nitesh and Thulasimathi Murugesan were beaten by Indonesia’s Ramdani Hikmat and Oktila Leani Ratri, and Suhas Yathiraj with Palak Kohli fell to France’s Lucas Mazur and Faustine Noel.
