Noida DM Suhas Yathiraj storms into finals of badminton singles at Tokyo Paralympics

Suhas L Yathiraj, Noida District Magistrate, scripted history as the first-ever IAS officer to win a medal at the Paralympics as he defeated Fredy Setiawan of Indonesia in his men's singles SL4-Group A second match.

Yathiraj has played three matches, including the semifinals on Saturday in the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics. In the first two matches, it took Yathiraj 20 minutes to dominate the field, while he beat Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan by 21-9 21-15 in 31 minutes in the first semifinal.

The 2007-batch IAS officer, with a leg impairment, will now face top seed Lucas Mazur of France in the final on Sunday.


Yathiraj graduated from NIT Karnataka with a distinction in computer engineering. He then went on to join Civil Services and has previously served as the district magistrate of Prayagraj, Agra, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Sonbhadra districts. For the last one and a half years, he had been at the forefront of the Covid pandemic management in Noida's Gautam Buddh Nagar. He was appointment in the western Uttar Pradesh district in March 2020.

As the IAS officer made it to the final at the Tokyo Paralympics, the Internet has been full of support for him by trending the hashtag #Cheer4Suhas on social media platforms.