Table Tennis player Bhavina Patel is all set to script history for India after she stormed into the finals at the Tokyo Paralympics on Saturday morning. The paddler beat beats China's Miao Zhang 3-2 in the Table Tennis Women's Singles Class 4 match and will now vie for gold. She is slated to take on world number one Ying Zhou on Sunday.
"I've never considered myself as a disabled person. Today, I've proved that nothing is impossible," news agency ANI quoted Patel as saying. Not only has she opened India's medal tally at the Tokyo Paralympics, this is also the country's first ever medal Table Tennis medal.
Even as her father told the media that the paddler was on her way to India's first Tokyo Paralympics gold, she assured that she was ready for the challenge. "I am just giving my 100%. I am mentally ready for the final," Patel added.
"Bhavina performed beautifully. Super proud! This will be the first medal for India in Table Tennis, in Paralympics and country's first medal in Tokyo Paralympics. Congratulations to her, I'm very happy. Women are creating history," exulted President of India's Paralympics Committee, Deepa Malik.
Malik noted that Patel's opponent had been among the top three players, as well as someone she had lost a match to, two years ago. "She has converted her loss into a victory today and changed the colours of her medal too," Malik added.
Further details awaited.
