Paris Paralympics 2024 Badminton: Sivarajan and Nithya lose mixed doubles bronze medal match to Indonesia

In disappointing news for Indian badminton fans, the mixed doubles pair of Sivarajan Solaimalai and Nithya Sre Sivan lost their bronze medal match at the Paris Paralympics 2024. The duo competed in the mixed doubles SH6 bronze medal match against Indonesia's Rina Marlina and Subhan on September 2.

Held at the La Chapelle Arena in Paris, the match saw the Indian pair struggle right from the get-go. Sivarajan and Nithya would have liked to assert their dominance in the first game but couldn't do so. India started off with a 17-21 loss in the first game.

With the match on the line, the second game became crucial. However, Solaimalai and Sivan continued to lag behind in the match. India went down in the second game, losing 12-21, ending their hopes of a bronze medal finish.

The pair had earlier lost their semifinal match against USA's Jayci Simon and Miles Krajewski on September 1.

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Sivarajan's Paralympics badminton medal dream ends, Nithya to compete in women's singles bronze medal match

Sivarajan will also be upset with how his singles campaign ended. He had lost all three of his matches in the men's singles SH6 group stage play. The Indian shuttler could only win a single game, across all three matches. As a result, the Tamil Nadu-born player failed to make it to the quarterfinals.

Nithya Sre Sivan put up a much better show, making it to the semifinals of the women's singles SH6 category. Nithya won two out of her three group play matches to proceed into the next round. She then defeated Polish badminton player Oliwia Szmigiel 2-0 to make it into the semifinals.

Sivan was beaten 0-2 by Shuangbao Lin of China, in the semifinals. The Indian shuttler's hopes for a Paralympic medal are still alive, as she will compete in the women's singles bronze medal match against Rina Marlina of Indonesia.