Rosa Efomo De Marco: All you need to know about Thulasimathi Murugesan’s opponent in para-badminton at Paris 2024 Paralympics
India’s star para-shuttler Thulasimathi Murugesan will face off against Italy’s Rosa Efomo De Marco in the SU5 category event at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. The match on Thursday will be a clash between two rising stars in the para-badminton circuit.
Murugesan, aged 22, is a silver medalist in the 2024 Para Badminton World Championships in Pattaya. She will be the favorite in the match against newcomer De Marco.
Rosa Efomo De Marco, the Italian para-shuttler, made her debut in the BWF World Championships in 2019 in Basel. She has competed in the 2022 (Tokyo) and 2024 (Pattaya) editions but failed to win a medal. De Marco also played in the 2023 European Championships in Rotterdam but again returned empty-handed.
De Marco finally got her big break by winning her first singles career title in the Egypt Para Badminton International. Along with a gold medal in the singles event, she also picked up two silver medals in the women’s and mixed doubles events.
After getting her first taste of success, she continued her strong form by clinching two more silver medals at the Bahrain International in 2024.
However, she has been going through a patch of poor form, losing the last five matches she played, as well as 17 of the 40 matches she played this year. However, on Thursday, she will look to restore her status as Italy’s para-badminton prodigy with a good performance against the top-seeded Murugesan.
Rosa Efomo De Marco’s medals and achievements
- 2024 Egypt Para Badminton International: Gold Medal (Women’s Singles), Silver Medal (Mixed Doubles), Silver Medal (Women’s Doubles)
- 2024 Bahrain Para Badminton International: Silver Medal (Women’s Singles), Silver Medal (Mixed Doubles)
Rosa Efomo De Marco’s world rankings
De Marco is currently ranked No. 7 in the women’s singles SU5 category, having played in 12 BWF events and accumulating 32,886 points.
Rosa Efomo De Marco’s Paralympic qualification
Due to her low singles ranking at the time of qualification, Italy’s highest-ranked para-shuttler De Marco secured her place at the Paris 2024 Paralympics via a Bipartite Commission Invite.
Rosa Efomo De Marco vs Thulasimathi Murugesan: Head to Head
While De Marco and Murugesan have yet to face each other in singles matches in any competition, they have faced each other in doubles competitions at the 5th Fazza Dubai Para Badminton International 2023.
The doubles team of Murugesan and Manasi Joshi defeated Italy’s De Marco and Bulgaria’s Emona Ivanova 21-8, 21-7.
Rosa Efomo De Marco vs Thulasimathi Murugesan match details
The match between De Marco and Murugesan will start from 5:20 pm IST onwards at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena in Paris.