India's Yathiraj becomes first IAS officer to win medal in Paralympics

Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida): India's Suhas L. Yathiraj went down fighting to France's World No 1 Lucas Mazur in three well-fought games in the final of the Men's Singles SL4 class and had to be satisfied with the silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games here on Sunday.

Yathiraj stunned the Frenchman, the three-time World Champion, in the first game and had handy leads in the second and third games but Mazur is too experienced and too skilled and fought back from a game down to win in just over an hour to win the gold medal.

Yathiraj is the district magistrate of Gautham Buddha Nagar (NOIDA) in Uttar Pradesh. He practised mostly in the nights after work to prepare for the Paralympics, who has now earned a place in the annals of Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

The 38-year-old Suhas, who was outdone by his 23-year-old top seed French rival Lucas Mazur in a thriller of a final, became the only IAS officer to have not only participated but also won a medal in the Paralympics.

Congratulations Suhas L Y, IAS, DM G B Nagar (Noida) for winning the silver medal in men's singles SL4 para-badminton at Tokyo Paralympics. We and the entire nation are proud of you,the IAS Association, a group of serving and retired central administrative officers, tweeted.

The IAS Association's tweet also carried the hashtag #Cheer4Suhas, a trending buzzword on social media to rally support for Yathiraj during the showpiece event, along with #Cheer4India.

The Indian Police Service (IPS) Association, too, chipped in with a congratulatory message for the Karnataka-born UP cadre IAS officer, who has been at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic management in Gautam Buddh Nagar since end of March 2020.

Secretary, Inter-State Council Secretariat of Union Home Ministry, Sanjay Gupta also heaped praise on the 2007-batch IAS officer for his achievement.

Suhas wins hearts. India lose another 63 min cliffhanger. He led in decider too but change of court at 11-10 turned the tables. Stupendous achievement for which nation is proud. Sadly, 2nd seed Tarun too loses Bronze play off. Avani Lekhara couldn't make to the finals in the mixed event, the senior IAS officer tweeted.

Suhas' IAS and IPS colleagues in Gautam Buddh Nagar too showered praise on his historic performance.

The IAS officer, who has an impairment in one of his ankles, produced an entertaining performance before narrowly going down 21-15 17-21 15-21 to two-time world champion Mazur in a 62-minute summit clash.