Patel’s impressive run at the Games ended with a loss to Zhou, a two-time gold medallist, in the women’s singles summit clash
Indian table tennis player Bhavina Patel signed off with a historic silver medal in her maiden Paralympic Games after going down 0-3 to world number one Chinese paddler Ying Zhou in the women’s singles class 4 final here on August 29.
The 34-year-old Patel’s impressive run at the Games ended with a 7-11 5-11 6-11 loss to Zhou, a two-time gold medallist, in the women’s singles summit clash which lasted 19 minutes.
Patel had suffered a loss to Zhou in her first group stage match earlier in the week.
Up against an opponent, who has five Paralympic medals to her name including gold medals in singles at Beijing and London, Patel seemed to struggle as she couldn’t execute her strategy.
Patel, who was diagnosed with polio when she was 12 months old, had defeated world no 3 Miao Zhang of China 7-11 11-7 11-4 9-11 11-8 in the semifinal showdown on Saturday.
In the quarterfinal on Friday, Patel had defeated 2016 Rio Paralympics gold medallist and world number two Borislava Peric Rankovic of Serbia to assure a medal and script history.
Narendra Modi congratulates Bhavina Patel on her win
PM Modi spoke to Bhavina Patel and congratulated her on winning the Paralympics Silver medal.
The PM lauded her efforts and told Bhavina that she has scripted history. He wished her the very best for her future endeavours.
Bhavina Patel hails from Sundhiya in Vadnagar, Mehsana. PM told her that he’s been to Sundhiya often and asked her who all from her family are still there, to which Bhavina replied that her parents are there.
(With inputs from The Hindu team)
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
