Kumar Nitesh

Nitesh Kumar (born 30 December 1994) is an Indian para-badminton player.^[1] He won a gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the men's singles SL3 category.^[2] 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.^[3]

Nitesh Kumar
Kumar in January 2025
Personal information
Country	India
Born	(1994-12-30) 30 December 1994 (age 30) Bas Kirtan, Rajasthan, India
Residence	Karnal, Haryana, India
Years active	2016–present
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
Medal record Men's para-badminton Representing  India Paralympic Games 2024 Paris Men's singles World Championships 2019 Basel Men's doubles 2022 Tokyo Men's singles 2024 Pattaya Men's singles Asian Para Games 2022 Hangzhou Men's doubles 2022 Hangzhou Men's singles 2018 Jakarta Men's doubles 2022 Hangzhou Mixed doubles
BWF profile

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.^[4] He resides at Karnal, Haryana and is supported by sports NGO, Olympic Gold Quest.^[5]

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.^[4][5]

He became the world number 3 in the SL3 category on 14 June 2022.^[6]

Coaching career

In 2019, he started working as Senior Badminton Coach at the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, Haryana.^[7][4]

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

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.^{[8] [9]}

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