Bhavina Patel was thebiggest newsmaker for India in Tokyo Paralympics on Friday. The Indian paddlerbeat three higher-ranked players to reach the semi-final. Archer Rakesh Kumarwas the other star for India. He finished 3rd in the Compound Open RankingRound with 699 points.
Patel, who playstable tennis in her wheelchair, has won a number of gold and silvermedals in national and international competitions. She reached the rankingof World Number 2, by winning Silver Medal for India in The Individual Categoryat 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 Paratable tennis championships in Beijing.
Bhavina won thebronze medal in International Table Tennis Federation Asian Para Table TennisChampionship 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 byLalan Doshi and is also guided by team official Tejalben Lakhia.
In Friday’s game, BhavinabenPatel made a strong start to the first game but slipped to a close defeat inthe 2nd game. She held her nerves in a thrilling 3rd game before taking thematch against her Great Britain opponent.
Bhavinaben and ZhouYing of China made it to the next round from Group A. Notably, Bhavinaben hadlost to the Chinese paddler in her opening match of the Paralympics onWednesday. She went down to Ying in straight games.
At the Paralympics,class 4 competitors in table tennis have fair sitting balance and fullyfunctional arms and hands. Their impairment may be due to a lower spinal-cordlesion or cerebral palsy.