WATCH: Paralympic medallists in women’s singles badminton receive grand welcome at Chennai airport

The Indian contingent has made huge strides so far at the Paralympic Games 2024. They have already achieved their best-ever medal tally at the global gala with 24 medals including five gold, nine silver and 10 bronze. With three days left for the event's finale, India's target of breaking the 25 mark is no longer an uphill task. 

A major part of this great success lies in the extraordinary efforts of the track and field athletes. Meanwhile, India also enjoyed great results in para-badminton. Tamil Nadu stars Nithya Sre Sivan, Thulasimathi Murugesan and Manisha Ramadass have bagged medals in the women's singles category.

Also Read: Nitesh Kumar's Paralympic Gold medal triumph: A story of resilience and redemption

Upon their arrival in India after a historic campaign in the French capital, the trio received a warm welcome at the Chennai airport. In a video shared by news agency ANI, the talented youngsters were seen beaming with smiles as they showed off their medals, surrounded by a large group of people who had gathered to receive them in traditional style.

Watch the video below:

Paralympic medallists Nithya Sre Sivan, Thulasimathi Murugesan and Manisha Ramadass received a beautiful welcome at Chennai Airport 👏



These smiles on the face of our Pata Athletes 🫶pic.twitter.com/QXN4wzy61l

— The Khel India (@TheKhelIndia) September 4, 2024

Nitya's bronze marked historic day in Indian para-badminton 

Notably, Ramadass became the first-ever Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics. She secured bronze in the women's singles SU5 category. The 19-year-old displayed her incredible skills to defeat third seed Cathrine Rosengren of Denmark. Ramadass won with the scores of 21-12 and 21-8 in only 25 minutes.

Murugesan won the silver medal in the same category minutes later. The 22-year-old emerged as the top seed in the women’s singles SU5 class. She had to settle for silver as China’s Yang Qiu Xia, who had won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, won with the scores of 21-17 and 21-10 in just 30 minutes. Notably, Qiu Xia secured her second consecutive gold medal. 

Nithya Sre Sivan on a bronze medal in the women’s singles SH6 - India’s last badminton match. The 19-year-old comfortably beat Indonesia’s Rina Marlina 21-14 21-6 to sign off on a winning note in her maiden appearance at the Games.

Also Read: Mariyappan Thangavelu does it again; grabs another glorious Paralympics medal in men's high jump T63