Tokyo Paralympics: Bhavinaben Patel qualifies for the Knockouts

Indian table tennis star Bhavinaben Patel has qualified for the knockouts of Women's Singles Class 4 at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics. The 34-year-old defeated Great Britain's Megan Shackleton 3-1 to make her way into the Round of 16 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

Playing at Table 5, Bhavina showed no mercy to the young Shackleton as she was on the money right from the word go. The Indian seemed determined to win this as she wrapped up the first game 11-7 in just 8 minutes after it was tied at 6-6 at one point.

Shackleton, however, refused to give up as she closed off a closely fought second game 11-9 to bring the match to a balance. The British continued her spirited show in the third game and was leading 11-10 at one point, but Bhavinaben Patel pulled off a wonderful comeback under pressure to win it 17-15 and lead the match 2-1.

The fourth game too went right down the wire and it seemed as if Shackleton would force the match into a decider as she led 10-7 at one point, but Sonalben Patel was relentless and eventually wrapped it up 13-11 to qualify for the knockouts.

The final scoreline read 11-7, 9-11, 17-15, 10-7.