Born with an upper limb disability in the left-hand, life has always been a struggle for Thulasimathi Murugesan. But the 22-year-old Tamil Nadu girl, daughter of a daily-wage labourer, never lost hope. Thulasimathi became the first Indian woman shuttler to win a Paralympics silver medal after a dream run to the final in the SU5 category on Sunday night. In the final on Monday, Thulasimathi went down to China’s Yang Qiu Xia in straight games 17-21, 10-21.
The Kancheepuram girl was in the lead for the majority of the first game but allowed the Chinese player to claw her way back. Xia then did not allow Thulasimathi to settle down and forced the Indian to commit errors in the games that followed.
The silver medal means the world to Thulasimathi with years of toil paying off. In fact, this is not her first international success. She had won three medals in the Hangzhou Para Asian Games last year and clinched silver in the World Para Badminton Championships in Bangkok earlier this year.
Despite her disability, Thulasimathi got hooked to badminton at the age of 10 as her father Murugesan, who had a passion for sports, saw the talent in her. He made her compete with able-bodied players so that she did not feel inferior.
The beginning of her badminton journey wasn’t easy. The pain of trying to overcome the physical barrier took a toll on her body, but she was not willing to give up. Slowly, things started falling into place and Thulasimathi started fulfilling her potential.
The Paralympics silver was a moment to savour for not only Thulasimathi but also her family members. Her elder sister Kiruttigha Murugesan, who has been a guiding light for her, said the family is still trying to process the moment of success.
“We do not know how to handle the moment emotionally. We have struggled a lot to support her as we could not afford to buy a proper racket. We used to play with used rackets, but it was our father’s dream to make Thulasimathi play in the Paralympics. She has made his dream come true,” Kiruttigha told TOI.
“My father was a sportsperson, and he was the first coach of Thulasimathi. He was a daily-wage worker, and we lived in a kutcha (small) house.
“During our struggles, none of our relatives were there to support us. “The relatives did not like girls playing sports and they said we would not be able to do well in academics if we kept playing regularly. But to prove them wrong, we took care of our studies while playing sports,” Kiruttigha, who was often Thulasimathi’s doubles partner in the initial days, said.
Thulasimathi had to overcome tough times in her bid to qualify for the quadrennial extravaganza. She met with an accident at the start of the Paralympic cycle in 2022 and had to be in bed rest for close to three months. After complete recovery she started to compete in BWF events.
A month before the Paralympics, the TN player suffered multiple injuries. A hamstring pull forced her to sit out of training for a week and this affected her mentally.
“Thulasimathi overcame injuries in time and was back on track both physically and mentally,” Kiruttigha said.
A turning point in her career came at the start of 2023, when she joined the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad after winning medals in national meets.
Thulasimathi is a veterinary science student and is in her third year of graduation.
Bronze for Manisha
Another Indian, Manisha Ramadass, secured bronze in the women’s singles SU5 category after beating Cathrine Rosengren of Denmark, seeded third, 21-12 21-8.
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