On Monday, September 2, Thulasimathi Murugesan created history by becoming the first ever Indian female shuttler to clinch a silver medal in the history of Paralympics. The Indian shuttler lost to China’s Qiu Xia Yang in the final of women’s singles SU5 gold medal match in the 2024 Paris edition of Paralympics to win silver. On the other hand, Manisha Ramadass took down Catherine Rosengreg in the bronze medal match.
Murugesan suffered a straight games defeat 17-21, 10-21 in a contest that lasted 30 minutes. With another silver and bronze, India’s medal tally entered the double digits, with 11 medals so far. Indian shuttlers have contributed three medals in the count. Murugesan won both her group A matches and entered the semifinals. The 22-year-old moved past Rosa de Marco of Italy 21-9, 21-11 in the first clash before she moved past Portuguese Beateriz Monteiro 21-12, 21-8 to advance to the semifinals.
Manisha Ramadass beats Catherine Rosengren of Denmark to clinch bronze medal
Manisha Ramadass, who was beaten by Murugesan in the semi-final clash, took down Catherine Rosengren of Denmark to clinch a bronze medal in the women’s SU5 category. The 19-year-old para-athlete secured the third podium finish with a score-line of 21-12, 21-8 and became the first Indian female shuttler to win a medal at the Paralympics.
Notably, the SU5 category is for those athletes with impairment on the upper limbs, which could be in the playing or non-playing hand. Earlier in an all-Indian semi-final clash. Murugesan managed to beat Ramadass 23-21, 21-17 in a 40-minute long encounter.