Bhavina beats China’s Zhang to enter table tennis finals
Bhavina Patel continued to script history as she became the first Indian to enter the final of a table tennis event in the Paralympics with a hard-fought 3-2 win over China’s Miao Zhang in a class 4 semifinal here on August 28.
The 34-year-old beat her world no. 3 Chinese opponent 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, and 11-8 in the semifinal showdown that lasted 34 minutes.
She will take on world number one Chinese paddler Ying Zhou in the summit clash on August 29.
Competing in her maiden Paralympics, Patel lost the opening game in a tight contest. But, she made a strong recovery, claiming the next two games.
In the fourth game, Zhang showed her class not giving Patel the bragging rights just yet as the match headed into the decider.
In the deciding fifth game, Patel took a time out after which she notched up the win. In the quarterfinal on Friday, Patel had defeated 2016 Rio Paralympics gold winner and world number two Borislava Peric Rankovic of Serbia to clinch a medal and script history.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday congratulated Patel, saying her accomplishments have inspired the entire nation.
Assured of at least a Paralympic silver medal after reaching the table tennis final here, India’s Bhavinaben Patel on Saturday said that she doesn’t consider herself as disabled and added that her performance at the Tokyo Games proves “nothing is impossible”.
Bhavinaben became the first Indian to enter the final of a table tennis event at the Paralympic Games when she secured a hard-fought 3-2 win over China’s Miao Zhang in a class 4 semi-final here on Saturday. The 34-year-old stunned her World No.3 Chinese opponent 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8 in the last-four showdown that lasted 34 minutes.
“I don’t consider myself as disabled. I am always confident that I can do anything. I have proved that we are not behind and para table tennis is as good as other sports,” said Bhavinaben. “I fought against a Chinese opponent and it is always said that it is difficult to win against China. I proved that nothing is impossible,” added Bhavinaben.
This was her first victory against former World No.1 Zhang. The two players had met 11 times before. Bhavinaben, who plays in a wheelchair, will take on World No.1 Chinese paddler Ying Zhou in the summit clash on Sunday. She said that focussing on the mental aspect of the game helped her during the final-four phase.
“I used to focus more on my mind. Through meditation and yoga, I learnt to keep myself calm. During matches, we make mistakes in a hurry and lose points. But, I could control my thoughts in the semi-finals,” she said.