Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, October 22, 2026: Indian para-badminton player and IAS officer Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj secured the bronze medal in the men’s singles SL4 event at the 2026 Asian Para Games after a hard-fought semifinal loss to Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan.
The defending champion and current world number one lost 21-23, 21-8, 15-21 in a closely contested match. Setiawan edged the first game in a tight contest, Suhas dominated the second to force a decider, and Setiawan pulled ahead in the third game after an early struggle.
Yathiraj’s path to the semifinals included a straight-games group-stage win over Bangladesh’s Joytu Dhar (21-8, 21-11) and a quarterfinal victory against Korea’s Cho Nadan (21-12, 21-16). His bronze added to India’s strong showing in para badminton on the day, which also saw Pramod Bhagat and Manisha Ramdass take bronze in mixed doubles SL3–SU5, and Krishna Nagar and Nithya Sre claim bronze in mixed doubles SH6. These results took India’s overall medal tally at the Games to 68 (15 gold, 22 silver, 31 bronze).
Athlete Profile
Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj (born 2 July 1983 in Hassan, Karnataka) is a 2007-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre. He has served as District Magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar and Prayagraj. A graduate in Computer Science and Engineering from NIT Surathkal, he competes in the SL4 classification (athletes with lower-limb impairments who retain relatively better walking and running balance).
He is a two-time Paralympic silver medallist (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 in men’s singles SL4), the 2024 World Champion, gold medallist at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Para Games, and bronze medallist at the 2018 Jakarta edition. He also won gold at the 2016 Asian Para Badminton Championships and received the Arjuna Award in 2021. He is widely noted as the only serving IAS officer to have won a Paralympic medal and the Arjuna Award.
The 2026 Asian Para Games are being held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Yathiraj’s latest podium finish continues his consistent high-level performance on the international circuit while balancing his administrative career.
