Kumar Nitesh

Indian para-badminton player (born 1994)

Badminton player

Nitesh Kumar

Personal information

Country

India

Born

(1994-12-30) 30 December 1994 (age 29)
Bas Kirtan, Rajasthan, India

Residence

Karnal, Haryana, India

Years active

2016–present

Handedness

Right

Men's singles SL3
Men's doubles SL3–SL4

Highest ranking

Men's singles
3 (2022)
Men's doubles
2; with Tarun Dhillon (2022)

Current ranking

Men's singles: 3
Men's doubles: 5

Medal record

Men's para-badminton

Representing India
Paralympic Games
	2024 Paris	Men's singles
World Championships
	2019 Basel	Men's doubles
	2022 Tokyo	Men's singles
	2024 Pattaya	Men's singles
Asian Para Games
	2022 Hangzhou	Men's doubles
	2022 Hangzhou	Men's singles
	2018 Jakarta	Men's doubles
	2022 Hangzhou	Mixed doubles

Nitesh Kumar (born 30 December 1994) is an Indian para-badminton player.^[1] He won a gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the men's singles SL3 category.^[2] He is a two-time silver and one-time bronze medalist at the World Championships. Kumar has won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the Asian Para Games over the years.^[3]

Early life and education

Kumar was born on 30 December 1994 in Bas Kirtan, Rajasthan. In 2009, he lost his left leg in a train accident in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. After bed ridden for many months, he prepared for IIT entrance exam for over a year and joined Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi in 2014. He started playing badminton at IIT and in 2016 represented the Haryana team at the Para National Championships.^[4] He resides at Karnal, Haryana and is supported by sports NGO, Olympic Gold Quest.^[5]

Career

He made his international debut in 2016. In 2017, he won his first title at the Irish Para-Badminton International. Later, he took part and won matches at BWF Para Badminton World Circuit and won a gold medal at the 2022 Asian Para Games at Hangzhou, China.^[4]^[5]

He became the world number 3 in the SL3 category on 14 June 2022.^[6]

Coaching career

In 2019, he started working as Senior Badminton Coach at the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, Haryana.^[7]^[4]

Achievements

Paralympic Games

Men's singles SL3

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2024	Arena Porte de La Chapelle, Paris, France	Daniel Bethell	21–14, 18–21, 23–21	Gold

World Championships

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2022	Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan	Pramod Bhagat	19–21, 19–21	Silver
2024	Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall, Pattaya, Thailand	Daniel Bethell	18–21, 22–20, 14–21	Bronze

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2019	St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland	Tarun Dhillon	Pramod Bhagat Manoj Sarkar	21–14, 15–21, 16–21	Silver

BWF Para Badminton World Circuit (3 titles, 6 runners-up)

The BWF Para Badminton World Circuit – Grade 2, Level 1, 2 and 3 tournaments has been sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation from 2022.^[8] ^[9]

Men's singles

Year	Tournament	Level	Opponent	Score	Result
2022	Spanish Para Badminton International II	Level 2	Pramod Bhagat	21–17, 17–21, 17–21	Runner-up
2022	Brazil Para Badminton International	Level 2	Daisuke Fujihara	21–15, 18–21, 21–18	Winner
2022	Dubai Para Badminton International	Level 2	Pramod Bhagat	21–19, 17–21, 17–21	Runner-up
2023	Brazil Para Badminton International	Level 2	Pramod Bhagat	21–12, 21–13	Winner

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Level	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2022	Spanish Para Badminton International II	Level 2	Sukant Kadam	Pramod Bhagat Manoj Sarkar	19–21, 21–11, 11–21	Runner-up
2022	Brazil Para Badminton International	Level 2	Tarun Dhillon	Mohammad Arwaz Ansari Deep Ranjan Bisoyee	21–13, 17–21, 18–21	Runner-up
2022	Bahrain Para Badminton International	Level 2	Tarun Dhillon	Mongkhon Bunsun Siripong Teamarrom	21–13, 21–7	Winner
2023	Spanish Para Badminton International II	Level 2	Tarun Dhillon	Pramod Bhagat Sukant Kadam	20–22, 21–12, 9–21	Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Level	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2023	Brazil Para-Badminton International	Level 2	Thulasimathi Murugesan	Hikmat Ramdani Leani Ratri Oktila	18–21, 9–21	Runner-up

International Tournaments (7 runners-up)

Men's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	Uganda Para Badminton International	Umesh Vikram Kumar	21–17, 15–21, 15–21	Runner-up
2020	Peru Para Badminton International	Pramod Bhagat	18–21, 21–15, 14–21	Runner-up
2021	Dubai Para Badminton International	Pramod Bhagat	17–21, 18–21	Runner-up

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	Dubai Para Badminton International	Fredy Setiawan	Ukun Rukaendi Hary Susanto	17–21, 15–21	Runner-up
2019	Turkish Para Badminton International	Tarun Dhillon	Dwiyoko Fredy Setiawan	14–21, 15–21	Runner-up
2019	Irish Para Badminton International	Tarun Dhillon	Pramod Bhagat Manoj Sarkar	21–13, 18–21, 21–23	Runner-up
2021	Dubai Para Badminton International	Sukant Kadam	Pramod Bhagat Manoj Sarkar	18–21, 16–21	Runner-up

References

^ "Player Profile".
^ Sportstar, Team (2 September 2024). "Paralympics 2024: Nitesh Kumar wins gold in para-badminton men's singles SL3". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
^ "Asian Para Games: Shuttler duo of Nitesh-Tarun claim yet another gold for India". ANI News. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Who Is Nitesh Kumar: IIT Graduate Who Won Paris Paralympics 2024 Gold For India | Olympics News". NDTVSports.com. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
^ ^a ^b "IIT graduate, gold in Paralympics: Nitesh Kumar living India's dream in Paris". India Today. 2 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
^ "BWF Para-Badminton – BWF Para Badminton World Rankings". bwfpara.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
^ "Nitesh Kumar: The para shuttler from IIT chasing big dreams". 25 April 2019.
^ "Para Badminton Tournament Structure Bids for Tournaments 2022 Onwards". Badminton World Federation. 29 May 2022.
^ "BWF Para Tournamentsoftware". Badminton World Federation. 11 July 2022.