Noida DM Suhas LY makes history, secures silver at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics

Monday 6 september 2021

Suhas has become the first-ever Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer to win a medal at the Paralympics.

India's para-shuttler Suhas L Yathiraj, who is the area officer of Gautam Buddh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, lost the badminton last to make due with a silver decoration in the men's singles SL4 classification of the Tokyo Paralympics on Sunday (September 5). Suhas lost to Frenchman Lucas Mazur 21-15, 17-21, 15-21 in the last. Notwithstanding, regardless of the misfortune, the 38-year-old has turned into the primary ever Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official to win an award at the Paralympics

Suhas, with a leg disability, confronted intense contest in the last as subsequent to dominating the principal Match, he surrendered the other two. In any case, the Noida DM was at his ruling best against his adversaries in the past adjusts. 

While it took him under 20 minutes to cruise through the initial two matches, Suhas outmaneuvered Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan 21-9 21-15 of every 31 minutes in the main elimination round on Saturday.

                                                                 

‘Do your deed and you will get results’

Suhas, who graduated as a PC engineer from NIT Karnataka with a differentiation, has recently filled in as the area justice of Prayagraj, Agra, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Sonbhadra regions. 

For the final remaining one and a half years, he had been at the bleeding edge of the COVID-19 pandemic administration in Gautam Buddh Nagar since his arrangement in the western UP area on March 30, 2020.Prior to his departure to Tokyo in the last week of August, Suhas, when asked about his badminton practice and work as DM, had told reporters, “I practice from 10pm for two hours after all the day’s works are over. I have been managing my game and administrative duties this way for around six years now.”

2007-batch IAS officer Suhas said his professional journey started in 2016 while he was the DM of Azamgarh district in eastern UP and a badminton championship was organized there.

“I was a guest at the inauguration of the tournament and expressed desire to participate. Until then it was a hobby for me as I had been playing badminton since childhood. I got a chance to play there and defeated state-level players,” he had said.

It was there, he said, the Gaurav Khanna, the current coach of the country’s para-badminton team, spotted him and push-started his professional journey.

In 2016 itself, he participated in the Asian Championship in Beijing and become the first non-ranked player to win the gold medal.

More international recognition was awaiting him as he went on to win medals at BWF Turkish championship in 2017 and 2019 besides the latest, a gold, in Brazil in 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic started ravaging India and world.

When his participation in the Tokyo Paralympics was confirmed in July, Suhas said the event was no doubt going to be a challenge, and being the world number three in his category, he was hopeful for a medal.

“Over the years, we have seen that small margins make the difference between winners and losers. I have lost games with a margin of millimeters and won by centimeters. When I compete in Tokyo, I know every player will be there hoping to win a medal,” Suhas told reporters.

However, he said he was not putting himself under any pressure for it, as he cited the teaching of the Bhagvat Geeta.

“Do your deed and you will get the results. I am not putting myself under any pressure. If God has brought me to this level, then I am going to put in all my efforts,” he said.