Kumar Nitesh

Nitesh Kumar
	Kumar in January 2025
Personal information
Born	30 December 1994 (age 31); Bas Kirtan, Rajasthan, India
Years active	2016–present
Sport
Country	India
Sport	Badminton
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: 1; Men's doubles: 5
	BWF profile
Medal record
Men's para-badminton
Representing India
Paralympic Games
World Championships
Asian Para Games

Nitesh Kumar (born 30 December 1994) is an Indian para-badminton player. He won a gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the men's singles SL3 category. 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.

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. He resides at Karnal, Haryana and is supported by sports NGO, Olympic Gold Quest.

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.

He became the world number 3 in the SL3 category on 14 June 2022.

Coaching career

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

Achievements

Paralympic Games

Men's singles SL3

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2024	Porte de La Chapelle Arena, 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
2026	Isa Sports City, Manama, Bahrain	Muhammad Al Imran	21–12, 17–21, 11–21	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

Asian Para Games

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2022	Binjiang Gymnasium, Hangzhou, China	Pramod Bhagat	20–22, 21–18, 19–21	Silver

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Indonesia	Anand Kumar Boregowda	Jeon Sun-woo Joo Dong-jae	16–21, 11–21	Bronze
2022	Binjiang Gymnasium, Hangzhou, China	Sukant Kadam	Dwiyoko Fredy Setiawan	9–21, 21–19, 22–20	Gold

Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2022	Binjiang Gymnasium, Hangzhou, China	Thulasimathi Murugesan	Fredy Setiawan Khalimatus Sadiyah	17–21, 12–21	Bronze

BWF Para Badminton World Circuit (12 titles, 11 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.

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
2023	Bahrain Para Badminton International	Level 2	Pramod Bhagat	16–21, 17–21	Runner-up
2023	Western Australia Para Badminton International	Level 2	Manoj Sarkar	21–14, 21–14	Winner
2024	Spanish Para Badminton International II	Level 2	Manoj Sarkar	21–17, 21–14	Winner
2024	Spanish Para Badminton International I	Level 1	Oleksandr Chyrkov	21–11, 21–13	Winner
2024	4 Nations Para Badminton International	Level 1	Daniel Bethell	11–21, 7–21	Runner-up

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
2023	Thailand Para Badminton International	Level 2	Tarun Dhillon	Pramod Bhagat Sukant Kadam	21–18, 14–21, 19–21	Runner-up
2023	Bahrain Para Badminton International	Level 2	Tarun Dhillon	Pramod Bhagat Sukant Kadam	24–22, 9–21, 14–21	Runner-up
2023	Canada Para Badminton International	Level 1	Tarun Dhillon	Nilesh Gaikwad Nehal Gupta	21–12, 21–8	Winner
				Guillaume Gailly William Roussy	21–13, 21–12
				Deep Ranjan Bisoyee Manoj Sarkar	21–9, 17–21, 21–16
				Pramod Bhagat Sukant Kadam	11–21, 21–16, 21–16
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
2023	Uganda Para Badminton International	Level 3	Thulasimathi Murugesan	Naveen Sivakumar Palak Kohli	21–12, 21–11	Winner
2023	Western Australia Para Badminton International	Level 2	Thulasimathi Murugesan	Fredy Setiawan Khalimatus Sadiyah	15–21, 22–20, 21–19	Winner
2024	Spanish Para Badminton International II	Level 2	Thulasimathi Murugesan	Chirag Baretha Mandeep Kaur	21–11, 21–16	Winner
2024	Spanish Para Badminton International I	Level 1	Thulasimathi Murugesan	Lucas Mazur Faustine Noël	22–20, 21–15	Winner

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.
1 2 3 "Who Is Nitesh Kumar: IIT Graduate Who Won Paris Paralympics 2024 Gold For India | Olympics News". NDTVSports.com. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
1 2 "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.

External links

Kumar Nitesh at BWFBadminton.com
Kumar Nitesh at BWFPara.TournamentSoftware.com (archived, alternate link)
Kumar Nitesh at the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympics (alternate link, alternate link 2)

[1] "Player Profile".

[2] 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.

[3] "Asian Para Games: Shuttler duo of Nitesh-Tarun claim yet another gold for India". ANI News. Retrieved 3 September 2024.

[:0-4] 1 2 3 "Who Is Nitesh Kumar: IIT Graduate Who Won Paris Paralympics 2024 Gold For India | Olympics News". NDTVSports.com. Retrieved 2 September 2024.

[:1-5] 1 2 "IIT graduate, gold in Paralympics: Nitesh Kumar living India's dream in Paris". India Today. 2 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.

[6] "BWF Para-Badminton – BWF Para Badminton World Rankings". bwfpara.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 3 September 2024.

[bridge-7] "Nitesh Kumar: The para shuttler from IIT chasing big dreams". 25 April 2019.

[8] "Para Badminton Tournament Structure Bids for Tournaments 2022 Onwards". Badminton World Federation. 29 May 2022.

[9] "BWF Para Tournamentsoftware". Badminton World Federation. 11 July 2022.

v t e Paralympic medalists for India
1968 1972 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Gold	: Murlikant Petkar (1972 Heidelberg) : Devendra Jhajharia (2 titles, 2004 Athens, 2016 Rio de Janeiro) : Mariyappan Thangavelu (2016 Rio de Janeiro) : Avani Lekhara (2 titles, 2020 Tokyo, 2024 Paris) : Sumit Antil (2 titles, 2020 Tokyo, 2024 Paris) : Manish Narwal (2020 Tokyo) : Pramod Bhagat (2020 Tokyo) : Krishna Nagar (2020 Tokyo) : Kumar Nitesh (2024 Paris) : Harvinder Singh (2024 Paris) : Dharambir Nain (2024 Paris) : Praveen Kumar (2024 Paris) : Navdeep Singh (2024 Paris)
Silver	: Bhimrao Kesarkar (1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York) : Joginder Singh Bedi (1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York) : Girisha Nagarajegowda (2012 London) : Deepa Malik (2016 Rio de Janeiro) : Bhavina Patel (2020 Tokyo) : Nishad Kumar (2 titles, 2020 Tokyo, 2024 Paris) : Yogesh Kathuniya (2 titles, 2020 Tokyo, 2024 Paris) : Devendra Jhajharia (2020 Tokyo) : Mariyappan Thangavelu (2020 Tokyo) : Praveen Kumar (2020 Tokyo) : Singhraj Adhana (2020 Tokyo) : Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj (2 titles, 2020 Tokyo, 2024 Paris) : Manish Narwal (2024 Paris) : Thulasimathi Murugesan (2024 Paris) : Sharad Kumar (2024 Paris) : Ajeet Singh Yadav (2024 Paris) : Sachin Sarjerao Khilari (2024 Paris) : Pranav Soorma (2024 Paris)
Bronze	: Joginder Singh Bedi (2 titles, 1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York) : Rajinder Singh Rahelu (2004 Athens) : Varun Singh Bhati (2016 Rio de Janeiro) : Sundar Singh Gurjar (2 titles, 2020 Tokyo, 2024 Paris) : Singhraj Adhana (2020 Tokyo) : Sharad Kumar (2020 Tokyo) : Avani Lekhara (2020 Tokyo) : Harvinder Singh (2020 Tokyo) : Manoj Sarkar (2020 Tokyo) : Mona Agarwal (2024 Paris) : Preethi Pal (2 titles, 2024 Paris) : Rubina Francis (2024 Paris) : Manisha Ramadass (2024 Paris) : Sheetal Devi (2024 Paris) : Rakesh Kumar (2024 Paris) : Nithya Sre Sivan (2024 Paris) : Deepthi Jeevanji (2024 Paris) : Mariyappan Thangavelu (2024 Paris) : Kapil Parmar (2024 Paris) : Hokato Hotozhe Sema (2024 Paris) : Simran Sharma (2024 Paris)