India’s Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj took home the silver medal after losing to top seed Lucas Mazur of France in the men’s singles SL4 class final at the Tokyo Paralympics on Sunday. With this historic silver, he became the first IAS officer to win a medal at the Paralympic Games.

The 38-year-old Noida district magistrate, who has an impairment in one of his ankles, produced an entertaining performance before he lost 21-15, 17-21, 15-21 to two-time world champion in a 62-minute summit clash.

“It was a very well-played match. I am very proud of him. It is the pinnacle of hard work of the last six years,” Ritu Suhas, wife of Suhas L Yathiraj and ADM Ghaziabad, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Suhas, who is a computer engineer, went on to become an IAS officer. He has been posted as a district magistrate of Noida since 2020; he was at the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to him. On earlier occasions also he won many medals. Along with efficiently discharging his administrative duties, he has been successful in Paralympics,” Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said.

On the court, he has won gold medals at the 2017 BWF Turkish Para badminton championship in men’s singles and men’s doubles. He won gold in the 2016 Asia championships and also a bronze at the 2018 Asian Para Games.

“Suhas Yathiraj has captured the imagination of our entire nation thanks to his exceptional sporting performance,” PM Narendra Modi congratulated Noida DM on winning the silver medal in badminton at the Paralympics.

Suhas graduated as a computer engineer from NIT Karnataka with a distinction and has previously served as the district magistrate of Prayagraj, Agra, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Sonbhadra districts.

Suhas said his professional journey started in 2016 while he was the DM of Azamgarh district in eastern UP.

He was spotted by Gaurav Khanna, the current coach of the country’s para-badminton team, at a badminton tournament. And the rest is history.