Sivarajan Solaimalai

Sivarajan Solaimalai (born 5 October 1995) is a para badminton player from Tamil Nadu. He qualified to represent India at the 2024 Para Olympics in the singles SH6 and men's doubles SH6 badminton events in Paris. He represented India at the 2022 Asian Para Games at Hangzhou, China and won a bronze medal in the doubles SH6 event along with Krishna Nagar.

Career

In June 2024, he won a silver medal in the 4 Nations Para Badminton International Level 1 tournament at Glasgow, Scotland. He also won a bronze in singles and a silver in mixed doubles in the Spanish Para Badminton international event in 2024.

Earlier, he won a silver in the mixed doubles at Asian Para Games in 2023. He also won a mixed doubles gold along with Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan at the Brazil Para-Badminton International in April 2023. He won a gold in the men's doubles partnering with Krishna Nagar at the 2023 Canada Para Badminton International in April 2023.

He made his Paralympic debut appearance representing India at the 2024 Summer Paralympics and competed in men's badminton events. During the 2024 Paris Paralympics, he became an instant viral sensation in social media for his rally of badminton shots in the men's SH6 category singles match against Man Kai Chu of Hong Kong, where he literally played by diving on to his right and left directions on consecutive occasions. His proactive tactful handling of shot selections during the match against Man Kai Chu tool internet by storm and his range of shots became subject of content in Instagram reels.