Boria Majumdar in Paris
The semi-final match had just ended and Suhas Yathiraj, as expected, had won in straight games against compatriot Sukant Kadam and advanced to the final of the Paralympics. After a warm embrace between the two Indians and a namaste with the referee, Suhas waved to the crowd and soaked in the applause. That’s when it started. All of a sudden, he started getting the crowd to go! Throwing his hands up and punching the air, he ran a few steps in all four directions of the packed stadium to the amusement of many in the stands. Suhas then lay flat on the ground for nearly a minute to take it all in before he got up to kneel down again and perform the pranaam. With every act of his, the crowd cheered loudly and he seemed to love every bit of the drama.
Even during the match, Suhas twice invoked the referee’s ire by overdoing things. One time, the referee actually cautioned him saying, “Suhas, please go and play.” It was funny at one level and, yet, as a journalist sitting next to me said, “This is all part of his strategy. It works for him.”
For the Latest Sports News: Click Here
Palak Kohli, the hugely talented para badminton player who lost in the quarterfinal here in Paris, was watching Suhas’ match sitting with us in the press seats. Palak, listening to our conversation about Suhas and his actions, made a fascinating point. “At times, Suhas bhaiya speaks to members of the audience during his match just to negate the pressure,” she said. “It once happened that he knew someone in the audience and, in between points, just looked up at this audience friend of his and said, ‘Hi, how are things? What’s up?’ Everyone, including the opponent, was surprised and it was an attempt to get himself back to his groove and deal with pressure.”
When I said this to Suhas, he laughed. “To think I was nowhere near playing the sport some years back to playing back-to-back Paralympic finals is quite a journey,” he told me. “I know there will be 8000 French supporters cheering for Lucas [Mazur]. But I also know there will be a billion people cheering for me back home. It is their love and blessings that gets me going.”
Suhas against Lucas is quite a rivalry, and he will need to dig into every bit of his showmanship and strategy to hold off the Frenchman in front of a raucous home crowd. “It is becoming a strong rivalry,” said Suhas. “He carries the World Championship bronze medal in his bag as a reminder that he lost to me in the competition. He wants to avenge it here in Paris and will do everything he can. In my case, it is nearly the same. I continued to play on because I lost to him in Tokyo and was determined to win a Paralympic gold medal. I did beat him in the World Championship, but this one will be special in front of his fans.”
We all remember his celebrations when he won the World Championship. He ran all across the court at Bolt-like speed and then jumped into coach Gaurav Khanna’s arms, much to the delight of the crowd. If he wins gold today, we can expect a similar celebration at the Porte de La Chappelle Arena. ‘Suhas Yathiraj – Asian Para Games Champion, World Champion and Paralympic Champion’ has a certain zing to it. Needless to say, he deserves to do every bit of what he does, and even a partisan French crowd will love every act of celebration.
Also Read: Mona the model of how to shoot down the odds