Bhavina Patel was the biggest newsmaker for India in Tokyo Paralympics on Friday. The Indian paddler beat three higher-ranked players to reach the semi-final. Archer Rakesh Kumar was the other star for India. He finished 3rd in the Compound Open Ranking Round with 699 points.
Patel, who plays table tennis in her wheelchair, has won a number of gold and silver medals in national and international competitions. She reached the ranking of World Number 2, by winning Silver Medal for India in The Individual Category at the PTT Thailand Table Tennis Championship held in 2011.In October 2013; Patel won the silver medal in the women’s singles Class 4 at the Asian Para table tennis championships in Beijing.
Bhavina won the bronze medal in International Table Tennis Federation Asian Para Table Tennis Championship that was organised from 23 to 31 August 2017 in Beijing, China. She played against Korean player Kang in the Women’s Singles Class 4 Category, and defeated her 3-0 to win the Bronze for India.
She is coached by Lalan Doshi and is also guided by team official Tejalben Lakhia.
In Friday’s game, Bhavinaben Patel made a strong start to the first game but slipped to a close defeat in the 2nd game. She held her nerves in a thrilling 3rd game before taking the match against her Great Britain opponent.
Bhavinaben and Zhou Ying of China made it to the next round from Group A. Notably, Bhavinaben had lost to the Chinese paddler in her opening match of the Paralympics on Wednesday. She went down to Ying in straight games.
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At the Paralympics, class 4 competitors in table tennis have fair sitting balance and fully functional arms and hands. Their impairment may be due to a lower spinal-cord lesion or cerebral palsy.