India’s para-shuttler Suhas L. Yetiraj, who is the district magistrate of Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh Nagar, lost the badminton final to be content with a silver medal in the men’s singles SL4 category of the Tokyo Paralympics on Sunday (September 5). In the final, Suhas lost to Frenchman Lucas Mazur 21-15, 17-21, 15-21. However, despite the defeat, the 38-year-old has become the first Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer to win a medal at the Paralympics.
Suhas, with weakness of one leg, faced stiff competition in the final as after winning the first game, he conceded the other two. However, the Noida DM was at his best against his rivals in the previous round.
While it took him less than 20 minutes to reach the first two matches, Suhas beat Indonesia’s Freddy Setiawan 21-9, 21-15 in 31 minutes in the first semi-final on Saturday.
‘Do your work, you will get results’
Suhas, who graduated as a computer engineer from NIT Karnataka, has previously served as the District Magistrate of Prayagraj, Agra, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Sonbhadra districts.
For the last one and a half year, he was at the forefront of COVID-19 pandemic management in Gautam Buddh Nagar since his appointment in Western UP district on March 30, 2020.
Before going to Tokyo in the last week of August, Suhas told reporters when asked about his badminton practice and work as DM. “After the whole day’s work is over, I practice for two hours from 10 pm. I have been managing my sporting and administrative duties in this manner for almost six years.
IAS officer of 2007 batch Suhas said that his professional journey started in 2016 when he was the DM of Azamgarh district of eastern UP and a badminton championship was organized there.
“I was a guest at the inauguration of the tournament and expressed my desire to participate. Till then it was a hobby for me as I was playing badminton since childhood. I got a chance to play there and beat state level players. He said that.
He said, it was there, Gaurav Khanna, the current coach of the country’s para-badminton team, saw him and continued his professional journey.
In 2016, he participated in the Asian Championship in Beijing and became the first non-ranked player to win a gold medal.
More international recognition awaited him than winning medals at the BWF Turkey Championships in 2017 and 2019, besides, the latest in Brazil in 2020, a gold, as the COVID-19 pandemic started ravaging India and the world.
When his participation in the Tokyo Paralympics was confirmed in July, Suhas said the competition would undoubtedly be a challenge, and being the world number three in his category, he was hopeful of a medal.
“Over the years, we have seen that small margins differentiate between winners and losers. I have lost the game by millimeters and won by centimetres. When I compete in Tokyo, I know every player will be hoping to win a medal.” Suhas told reporters.
However, he said that he was not putting himself under any pressure for this, as he referred to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita.
“Do your karma and you will get the result. I am not putting myself under any pressure. If God has brought me to this level, I am going to put in all my efforts.” he said.
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