Tokyo Paralympics: Suhas clinches silver in badminton SL4 class
Tokyo (PTI): India's Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj ended his campaign with a historic silver after going down fighting against top seed Lucas Mazur of France in the men's singles SL4 class final at the Tokyo Paralympics here on Sunday.
The 38-year-old Noida district magistrate, who has an impairment in one of his ankles, produced an entertaining performance before narrowly going down 21-15 17-21 15-21 to two-time world champion Mazur in a 62-minute summit clash.
The unseeded Suhas had lost to Mazur, who has won three gold medals in European Championships as well, in the qualifying group A match but the Indian made a tremendous effort in the final to challenge his world No. 1 rival.
The district magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) thus also became the first-ever IAS officer to win a medal at the Paralympics.
"I'm quite happy with the performance but I should have finished it off in the second game," said Suhas after winning India's third medal in badminton.
"So I'm a little disappointed that I didn't finish it off because I had a handsome lead in the second game. But congratulations to Lucas. Whoever played better is the winner."
In SL4 class, shuttlers have lower limb impairment/severe and they play standing.
Earlier, Pramod Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar had won a gold and a bronze respectively in men's singles SL3 category on Saturday.
In SL4 bronze medal play-off, second seed Tarun Dhillon went down 17-21 11-21 to Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan in 32 minutes to miss out of a medal at the Yoyogi national stadium.
In the gold medal match, Suhas stepped it up on the big stage. He completely dominated the proceedings early on, celebrating each point with a fist pump as the Indian contingent got behind him.
Suhas stood close to the net and created the opportunities in the rallies to move neck-and-neck with Mazur from 5-5 to 8-8. The Indian varied his pace and put pressure on his fancied rival to lead 11-8 at the first break.
Suhas, playing with a smile, controlled the proceedings with Mazur, who looked jaded after the gruelling semifinal against Tarun Dhillon. The French missed the lines, hitting wide and long to allow the Indian lead 18-12.
Suhas eventually grabbed five game points and next pushed one at the backline to pocket the first game.
The Indian continued the momentum, leading 3-1 in the second game. However, Mazur dug in and clawed back into the lead at 6-5. Suhas again turned it around to lead 11-8 with Mazur making silly mistakes.
The Indian maintained his lead at 14-11 after resumption but Mazur grabbed nine of the last 11 points to roar back into the contest.
Suhas rode on his flurry of smashes to make a superb start to the decider, leading 3-0. He picked his shots wisely to maintain a 6-3 lead but Mazur again fought his way back to 9-9.
But two errors handed Suhas the lead at the break again.
Mazur soon eked out a three-point lead at 17-13 with his aggressive returns on the Indian's body. Suhas committed a series of errors in the final stage to allow Mazur grab five match points and the Frenchman sealed it when the Indian went to the net.
A computer engineer, Suhas went on to become an IAS officer and has been posted as a district magistrate of Noida since 2020, a role that saw him at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
On the court, he has won gold medals at 2017 BWF Turkish Para badminton championship in men's singles and men's doubles. He also won gold in 2016 Asia championships, besides a bronze at 2018 Asian Para Games.
Pramod Bhagat on Saturday claimed India's first badminton gold at the Paralympics in men's singles SL3 class.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
