India’s Nithya Sre defeated Rina Marlina of Indonesia 21-14, 21-6 to win bronze medal in the women’s SH6 category on Monday.
The 19-year-old Indian beat the Indonesian para shuttler in just 23 minutes after waiting for almost an hour due to technical issues after the previous medal ceremony.
Nithya along with Sivarajan Solaimalai lost in the mixed doubles SH6 bronze medal match to Rina and Subhan.
With this medal, India surpassed its badminton medal tally of four in Tokyo.
“I’m unable to express my emotions. This would be my best moment. I have played against her(Rina) over 9-10 times but have never defeated her. I was telling myself even when I was in the lead to maintain focus and to not take it easy due to my past experience. I prepared myself mentally to not celebrate early,” said the elated para shuttler from Tamil Nadu after the match.
Nithya won two bronze medals at the 2022 Asian Para Games held at Hangzhou, China. In May 2022, the Asian Youth Para Games winner also won a gold medal at the first Bahrain Para Badminton International Championships in Manama.
In December 2022, she bagged gold in the women’s singles SH6 finals defeating Worlds silver medallist at the Peru Para Badminton International in Lima