India’s top women’s para-shuttler Thulasimathi Murugesan put up a good fight but lost 0-2 against China’s Qiu Xia Yang in the Gold Medal Match in the Women’s Singles SU5 category at the Paralympic Games here on Monday. The defeat saw settle for a silver medal for the nation which is India’s 11th medal so far in the 2024 Paralympics.
Despite starting on the front foot which saw the Indians take a 11–8 lead, Yang fought her way back into the first game and won 21-17.
Yang continued her dominance in the second game and took an early advantage with a score of 5-10. The Chinese had no problem in taking the game away from World No.1 and went on to win the game 21-10 and secure the gold medal with a dominant performance. With this win, Qiuxia Yang took revenge for her defeat to the Indian in the Women’s Singles SU5 final in the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou in October 2023.
She may had to settle for a silver medal but it was a great result for Thulasimathi Murugesan in her debut Paralympic Games. She began her campaign with a 2-0 (21-9, 21-11) victory over Italy’s Rosa Efomo de Marco before defeating Portugal’s Beatriz Monteiro in her second Group A match to end the Group stage on top with a +44 point differential.
Her next matchup was against compatriot Manisha Ramadass in the semifinals, after Thulasimathi was awarded a bye in her quarterfinal matchup. Thulasimathi once again got the better of her compatriot 2-0 in 39 minutes to set up the clash against Qiu Xia Yang in the final.
Yang, on the other hand, earned herself a bye in the quarterfinal after defeating France’s Maud Lefort 2-1 (8-21, 21-6, 21-19)in her first group stage game before facing India’s Manisha who she defeated 2-0 (21-15, 21-7) to claim top spot in Group C. Her battle against Japan’s Cathrine Rosengren lasted only 28 minutes as she booked her spot in the final with another 2-0 ( 21-14, 21-14) victory to her name.
Thulasimathi was India’s biggest star in badminton at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Huangzhou, claiming three medals including the gold in the Women’s Singles SU5. He won a silver medal in Women’s Doubles SL3-SU5 along with Manasi Joshi and claimed a bronze medal in the Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5 with Nitesh Kumar.
In the SU5 category, the players have impairment of the upper limbs. The impairment could be on the playing or non-playing hand.