Indian badminton Paris Paralympians to be awarded combined cash reward of INR 50 lakh for medal-winning efforts

Hyderabad: The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has announced a combined cash reward of INR 50 lakh for the victorious Indian paralympic badminton contingent that took part in the Paris Paralympics 2024.

The Indian badminton contingent won five medals – one gold, two silver and two bronze medals – the most in any edition of the Paralympics to create a record. Adding to the record, the Indian women's badminton players won medals for the first time in the history of Indian badminton at the Paralympics.

Nitesh Kumar won the gold medal in the men’s singles SL3 category while veteran Suhas Yathiraj won the silver medal in the men’s singles SL4 category. Notably, Yathiraj won the silver medal in the Tokyo 2020 Games too.

Indian women’s shuttlers Thulasimathi Murugesan, Manisha Ramadass and Nithya Sre Sivan became the first Indian women players to win medals at the Paralympics. While Thulasimathi won the silver medal in the women’s singles SU5 category, Manisha and Nithya won bronze medals in the SH6 category.

The cash reward was announced by Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, the president of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and chief minister of Assam.

Nitesh will be awarded with a prize money of INR 15 lakh while silver medallists Suhas and Thulasimathi will be awarded INR 10 lakh each. Manisha and Nithya, who won the bronze medals, will be given INR 7.5 lakh apiece as prize money.

Sanjay Mishra, the secretary general of the BAI, said the rewards are one way of the association to recognise and reward the players for their good performances. “Indian para badminton players have been performing consistently on the world stage and the cash rewards are just one way for BAI to recognise their efforts in helping the country win medals at the Paralympics. The BAI is committed to developing and promoting para-badminton across the country and helping these players achieve much more success and many more initiatives to develop para-badminton are being undertaken,” he said in a statement.

BAI will organise a virtual interaction session with the players to congratulate them and to understand their requirements for continued development.