Beyond tragic backstories, competitiveness and rivalries take centre stage in para-badminton

Nitesh Kumar was quick to ins he had moved on from a train accident that led to him needing a prosthetic knee down. When he became a Paralympic champion this last week, it was the crisp quality of his strokes – defense and variations – that helped him win the marathon event of para-badminton, the SL3 half court duels where rallies routinely go over 100+ shots.His court movements were visibly difficult and his opponent Daniel Bethell held a dinct advantage whenever he made Nitesh lunge. But the strokes were sublime.
And the thrilling final stayed engrossing not for waves of surging sympathy watching the two battle – Nitesh limping around, and Bethell overcoming his cerebral palsy shortcomings. For at some point, the contest simply went beyond the inspiration-template that para-Games keep mining from watchers. And it became a simple, raw sporting contest of a yo-yoing badminton rally, where the two gladiators were tested on who wouldn’t blink first. It was high-quality shot making, and Bethell’s deceptive riddles had a packed house at La Chapelle Arena on the edge of their seats. Not too different from Viktor Axelsen vs Lakshya Sen at the Olympics last month.
Para-badminton’s finest achievement will be that if you had never watched able-bodied athletes prance around the full court, you simply wouldn’t know speed or power were missing watching para shuttlers duel. Thulasimathi Murugesan can construct some fine attacking set-ups despite an infirm left arm. And Manisha Ramadass has some real smoothness to her net-play, which brought in the silver and bronze women’s medals. Nithya Sre was a joy to watch as she decimated Rina Marlena of Indonesia in Para badminton for those with vertical growth disabilities.
India’s Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj competes in a gold medal singles SL4 match at the Porte de la Chappelle Arena, during the 2024 Paris Paralympics, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, in Paris. (AP)
And the Suhas Yathiraj-Lucas Mazur battle — the Indian lost his second successive SL4 Paralympics final, would easily sell a rematch, an encore and pack a 8000 inside any French or Indian stadium, just to watch the two go another round as Suhas problem-solves his way to seek revenge in this engaging rivalry.
Just like that, from Tokyo to Paris, para-badminton has passed the hoop where spectators watch it out of mere consideration for their tragic backstories, and has glided into sport’s original territory of competitive duels, with storied rivalries, given the skills on display. The disabilities don’t come in the way of a viewing experience.
It really wouldn’t be a surprise if the BWF conducted para-tournaments alongside the regular year-round circuit. For if Paris was any indication, para-badminton makes for a compelling watch, and can easily get mainstreamed given the high quality of playing abilities.
SH6, where athletes suffering from dwarfism turned out, was easily the noisiest and most enthralling events at the Paris Paralympics, and Indians already boast of legends like Krishna Nagar and now Nithya Sre in this classification. They have wicked jump smashes, their commitment to defense gives goosebumps, and the Chinese SH6 ladies are operating at an incredible pace. The men’s final with Charles Noakes vs Krysten Coombs, brought the roof down, and recorded high Youtube numbers.
Perhaps the rally of the Paris Games was played between Miles Krajewski and Victor Tavares. You can watch the American, Krajewski dive about the four corners, retrieving unreal shuttles, and bouncing back to return the next shot on loop, a hundred times. Tavares prevailed in that one, but nobody who watched the two three-and-a-little footers in action, would forget the insane quality of defense in the rallies, oozing agility and athleticism.
Wheelchair basketball boasts about some radical dunking stunts in para-sport. But SH6 has acquired a cult following of its own from Paris. Like a proper sport, people will pay to watch them SH6 pros do battle. Para-badminton always had a swag, but it seriously needn’t remain a sideshow on Super Series Sundays, and can merrily join the 5 act plays of men’s and women’s singles and the three doubles of able-bodied athletes, if the numbers burgeon to 32-player draws.