IAS Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj aka LY is an Indian para-badminton player who recently won a silver medal in the men’s badminton event at the ongoing Paralympic Games 2024, find out more about him along with his batch and current posting
Suhas is famous for becoming the first Indian bureaucrat professional to win the Asian Para-Badminton Championship series back in 2016.
Who is IAS Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj, Indian para-badminton player, biography, age, wife, education, current posting and disability
Lalinakere received the Yash Bharti award on December 1, 2016, which is Uttar Pradesh’s highest civilian honour.
Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj bio
Suhas is an Indian para-badminton player who was born on July 2, 1983, in Hassan, Karnataka, India. He is currently 41 years old, and the World No. 1 in men’s para-badminton singles. Suhas currently resides in Gautam Buddh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India with his wife and children. He was born to parents Yathiraj L K, who was a government servant, and Jayashree C S. he has a brother named Sharath L Y.
A computer engineer-turned-IAS officer, Suhas was born with a congenital deformity in his left ankle, which significantly affected his mobility and he plays in the SL4 category in which he’s the top ranked badminton player.
Height and weight
Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj currently stands at a height of 5’ 9” (175 cm), and weighs around 61 kg (134 lbs).
Education
Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj completed his secondary school education from DVS independent college, in Shivamogga, Karnataka. He later graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering in Software from N.I.T. Karnataka, in 2004.
Wife and children
Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj is currently married to his wife Ritu Suhas, a PCS officer, who is currently posted as ADM (Administration) in Ghaziabad. Ritu notably got selected as Mrs U.P during the Mrs. India 2019 contest and also has an award for excellent work in voter awareness during the general elections. The couple have a 5-year-old daughter named Saanvi, and a 2-year-old son named Vivaan.
Civil Services career
Aside from being a para-athlete, Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj is also an Indian Administration Service (IAS) officer. Suhas is from the 2007 batch and belongs to the Uttar Pradesh cadre. He initially started out his first post as an Assistant Collector & Assistant Magistrate (Junior Scale) at Agra from 2008 to 2011. He then served as the Chief Development Officer and Under Secretary at Mathura from 2011 to 2012. During the same time, he took up the role of District Collector and District Magistrate at Land Revenue & Disaster Management Department.
Suhas then served as District Magistrate and Under-Secretary at Sonbhadra briefly in 2012, before serving at the same role at Jaunpur from 2012 to 2015. He later worked as District Magistrate and Deputy Secretary at Azamgarh from 2015 to 2017. The veteran para-athlete then served as the Special Secretary and Deputy Secretary from 2015 to 2017. Following which he served as the District Magistrate and Deputy Secretary at Prayagraj from 2017 – 2019. Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj currently serves as the Special Secretary and Deputy Secretary in Uttar Pradesh since 2019.
Para-athletic career
Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj won his first major title in the Men’s Para badminton at the Asia Championships 2016 at Beijing. He then won two gold medals at BWF Turkish Open Para-Badminton Championships 2017 in the Men’s singles and doubles. That same year, he won a silver and a bronze at the BWF Japan Open Para-Badminton Championships 2017. Suhas also won a bronze medal at Jakarta, Indonesia in Men’s team at the Asian Para Games 2018.
He also won a gold at the National Para-Badminton Championships 2018, followed by a silver at the BWF Turkish Open Para-Badminton Championships. He has since gone on to achieve several medals wins across different BWF Championships over the years. Suhas is currently the World No. 1 in men’s para-badminton singles and recently won a silver in the ongoing Paralympic Games 2024.
Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj has am Instagram account with the handle @suhas_ly, where he has over 14.7K followers and 107 posts.