Aichi-Nagoya, October 23 (H.S.): India’s Nitesh Kumar and Thulasimathi Murugesan secured the silver medal in the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 para-badminton event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games 2026 after losing 1-2 to Indonesia’s Leani Ratri Oktila and Hikmat Ramdani in the gold-medal match.

The Indian pair made an impressive start to the final, dominating the opening game to register a convincing 21-11 victory. However, the Indonesian duo mounted a strong comeback in the second game, edging out their Indian opponents 21-19 in a closely contested encounter to level the match at one game apiece.

The decisive third game witnessed another competitive battle between the two pairs. The Indonesian players, however, maintained their momentum and clinched the game 21-14 to secure the gold medal, leaving Nitesh and Thulasimathi with silver.

India stood fourth in the medal standings at the Asian Para Games 2026 at the time of reporting, with a total of 104 medals, comprising 27 gold, 34 silver and 43 bronze.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar