Badminton at Paralympics: Suhas, Nitesh seal semifinal spot; Manasi, Manoj out

Tokyo silver medallist shuttler Suhas Yathiraj and Nitesh Kumar continued their impressive run to secure spots in the men's singles SL4 and SL3 semifinals, respectively, at the Paralympics here on Friday.

Suhas, a 2007 batch IAS officer, defeated Korea's Shin Kyung Hwan 26-24, 21-14 in his second match, topping the three-man Group A in the SL4 category.

Meanwhile, Nitesh, a 29-year-old IIT Mandi graduate, dominated China's Yang Jianyuan with a convincing 21-5, 21-11 victory, ensuring a top-two finish in the four-man Group A of the SL3 category.

In the SL4 class, the group toppers advance to the last four, while in the SL3 class, the top two players from each of the two groups qualify for the semifinals.

Nitesh, who suffered permanent leg damage due to an accident in 2009, will next face Thailand's Bunsun Mongkhon in his final Group A match.

However, it was a disappointing day for Manasi Joshi and Manoj Sarkar, as they both suffered their second consecutive defeats, ending their chances of reaching the semifinals in their respective groups.

Manasi, the 2019 World Champion, narrowly lost to Ukraine's Oksana Kozyna 21-10, 15-21, 21-23 in her second women's singles SL3 Group A match. She had previously lost her opening match to Indonesia's Qonitah Ikhtiar Syakuroh on Thursday.

Tokyo bronze medallist Manoj also faced another setback, losing 19-21, 8-21 to Bunsun in his second Group A match. Manoj had earlier lost to compatriot Nitesh on Thursday and will meet Yang on Friday.

The SL4 class is designated for athletes with lower limb impairments and minor balance issues in walking or running, while the SL3 class is for players with more severe lower limb disabilities, requiring play on a half-width court.

On Thursday night, Nitesh and Thulasimathi Murugesan were defeated by the Indonesian pair of Ramdani Hikmat and Oktila Leani Ratri 15-21, 8-21 in their second mixed doubles SL3-SU5 group stage match.

Suhas Yathiraj and Palak Kohli also suffered a 15-21, 9-21 loss to France's Lucas Mazur and Faustine Noel in their second Group A mixed doubles match.

The SU5 class includes athletes with upper limb impairments.