Suhas LY, former DM of Noida, has scripted history in the Para-Badminton International Championship held in Thailand. He won a gold medal in the big tournament. Yathiraj, a Computer Engineering graduate from the National Institute of Technology, Suratkal, Karnataka was posted as the district magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh.
Suhas played a total of 7 matches in the tournament and did not give any chance to his opponent in any of them. In his golden journey, Suhas won matches against players from Indonesia, France, South Korea, and also against his fellow Indian players from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Talking about the final match, Suhas defeated his Sukant Kadam 21-14, 17-21, 21-14 in a nail-biting match.
"Proud to win Gold Medal after winning final on Sunday 14th May, in Thailand Open 2023, being held in Pattaya, Thailand," Yathiraj posted on his social media handle.
Yathiraj, who has an impairment to one of his ankles, in an interview said he never allowed the impairment to stop him from following his dream.
"I never saw myself with the impairment and I owe this mindset to my parents. I was not given any special treatment since the beginning. My parents made me play with schoolmates and allowed me to participate in inter-school races which many parents of special needs children didn't. I also think that like most good things, stigma too begins at home. All the strength to lead a proper life begins at home," he once told the media.
"I played badminton at the school level and it was my favourite pastime in the civil services academy. Some of my colleagues lauded me for the way I played and suggested that I should take it up professionally. My wife Ritu also thought the same, so I went ahead. My interest started in 2012, the deformity in my ankle forced me to play sports more and stay more active," he had said.
