Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
Bhavina Patel becomes the second Indian woman to win Paralympics medal
Bhavina Patel, won the silver medal in women's singles class 4 at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics.
Bhavina Patel (Source: ITTF/Cheng Howe See)
The star para-table tennis player from the country, Bhavina Patel, won the silver medal in women's singles class 4 at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics earlier today. The 34-year-old lost to China's Zhou Ying in 3-0 in straight games in the final at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium's Table number 6.
Hailing from the western state of Gujarat, Bhavina Patel stitched together some wonderful performances over the past few days to become the first paddler from the country to win a medal either at the Paralympics or the Olympics.
Having started her campaign in Tokyo with a loss to Zhou Ying in her first match, Bhavina then notched up four consecutive matches including wins over world number 2 Borislava Peric in the quarterfinal and world number 3 Zhang Miao in the semifinal.
While Bhavina was definitely an underdog in the final against Zhou Ying considering her record against the Chinese, the Indian did put up a brave fight to win a historic medal for India.
With this win, Bhavina Patel becomes only the second Indian woman after the current Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) President, Deepa Malik, to win a medal at the Paralympics.
Deepa Malik had become the first Indian woman to win a Paralympics medal when she clinched the bronze medal in women's F53 shot put at the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics five years back in 2016.
