Tokyo Paralympics Day 1, 25th August: Sonalben and Bhavina Patel lose their first match - LIVE Updates, blog
Kickstarting action for the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Paralympics will be medal hopeful paddlers from Gujarat - Bhavina Patel and Sonalben Patel.
Bhavina Patel and Sonalben Patel will face off in the finals of CWG 2022
Welcome to the LIVE blog of The Bridge for Day 1 of the Tokyo Paralympics.
Sonalben Patel, who is ranked World No. 19 and placed in Group D of the Class 3 event, lost a closely fought encounter 2-3 against the 2016 silver medallist Li Qian.
On the other hand, World No. 8 Bhavina Patel, fell to a 3-0 straight games defeat against China's Zhou Ying to bring down curtains on the Indian challenge in Tokyo for the day.
You can read the match report of Sonalben Patel and Bhavina Patel here.
Certainly not a start India would have hoped at the Tokyo Paralympics. Both the athletes from the country in action lost their respective matches, and that was all of the Indian action we had today in Tokyo.
Thank you for joining in for our LIVE Blog. Do not forget to join in tomorrow when Sonalben and Bhavina Patel will be in action for their second round-robin match. Remember, they have no option but to win tomorrow if they are to advance to the next round.
See you, then!
This was a crushing defeat for Bhavina Patel - the match lasted a mere 18 minutes. Not the start she would have hoped for, but she will have to bounce back tomorrow against Great Britain's Megan Shackleton if she has to advance to the knockouts.
Click here to read the complete report of the match between Bhavina Patel and Zhou Ying.
Remember, Zhou Ying is a two time Paralympics Champion - 2008 and 2012. Yes, she did finish a lowly fifth in 2016 at Rio but certainly seems to be at her very best this time around.
Bhavina did give it her all, but Zhou Ying was just much superior today.
Bhavina Patel falls to a straight set defeat against China's Zhou Ying in the first match of Class 4 Group A.
The Indian lost 3-11, 9-11, 2-11.
This seems all over for India as Zhou Ying leads the third game 10-2 now.
Bhavina Patel is trying her best to hang in there. But, Zhou Ying is in some murderous mood today. The Chinese races to a 8-2 lead in no time. WOW!
Bhavina seems to have no answer to the much superior Chinese at the moment. She trails 1-4 in the third game.
The third game has started at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Bhavina Patel under a lot of pressure. Can she fightback from here?
Just when it looked like the second game would go right down the wire, Zhou Ying snatches it 11-9 to lead the match 2-0.
Bhavina Patel is not willing to give up easily. She fights back and the second game is balanced at 9-9