Paralympics: Bhavinaben becomes first player to enter table tennis quarterfinals
(Sourced from PTI)
Bhavinaben Patel on Friday became the first Indian table tennis player to enter the Tokyo Paralympics quarterfinals with a dominating win over Joyce de Oliveira of Brazil in the women's singles Class IV event at the Tokyo Games. The 34-year-old Indian beat her Brazilian opponent 12-10, 13-11, 11-6 in a Round of 16 contest that lasted 23 minutes. Here's more.
Patel will meet Borislava Peric Rankovic of Serbia in the quarterfinals later in the day. Athletes in the Class IV category have fair sitting balance and fully functional arms and hands. Their impairment may be due to a lower spinal cord lesion or cerebral palsy.
"My strategy was to play more toward the body of my opponent and that was what my coach told me. I executed my plans," Patel said after the match. "My next opponent is world number two, so I have to really focus on my game and hope to win the match," she added.
Earlier, the Indian player had entered the Round of 16 after winning one match and losing the other group game. She is the only Indian left in the fray in the table tennis competition after compatriot Sonalben Manubhai Patel lost both her group matches on Thursday to bow out. Notably, the Tokyo Paralympics began on August 24 and will continue till September 5.
Meanwhile, Gursharan Singh, India's Chef de Mission for the Tokyo Paralympics, had earlier said that the nation will have a wonderful run at the Tokyo Paralympics. According to him, India will finish with at least 15 medals, including five gold. Notably, India has so far bagged a total of 12 medals in 11 Paralympic appearances (gold: 4, silver: 4, bronze: 4)
