Paddle Bhavinaben Patel won the historic silver at the Tokyo Paralympics

Bhavinaben Patel became the only Indian woman on Sunday to win a medal at the Paralympics after signing a historic silver when she lost 0-3 to world number one paddler Ying Zhou in the women’s singles table tennis class 4 final.

The 34-year-old Patel’s impressive race in the tournament ended in a deadly 7-11 5-11 6-11 loss to double gold medalist Zhou at the women’s singles summit, which lasted 19 minutes.

With this medal, the Indian team opened their account in the Games.

Deepa Malik, who is the current president of the Indian Paralympic Committee (PCI), was the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics after winning silver by shooting in Rio five years ago.

Wheelchair radiator Patel had also suffered a defeat for Zhou, one of China’s most ornate paddlers, in the first block stage early this week.

Against an opponent with five Paralympic medals in his name, including gold medals in the Beijing and London singles, Patel seemed to be struggling because he was unable to implement his strategy and was left to do the catching work.

Zhou, a six-time World Cup medalist, didn’t let Patel, who is currently ranked 12th in his division, find an angular return and get to the rally.

In the first game, Zhou cut 3-3 to move on. Patel tried to keep himself in touch with a great pass point 5-7 and a palm strike, but the Chinese managed to earn the brag with the right push on the starting line.

The second game was one-way traffic when Zhou jumped to a 7-1 lead early. Patel narrowed the match to 4-7, but the Chinese soon took the 2-0 lead.

Squeezed to the brink, Patel attempted to recover the script as he moved his opponent’s neck and neck 5-5 in the third game. But Zhou moved forward again and closed the race afterwards.

Patel, who was diagnosed with polio at the age of 12 months, had won World No. 3 Chinese Miao Zhang in the 7-11 11-7 11-4 9-11 11-8 Saturday semi-finals.

In Friday’s semi-finals, Patel had won the 2016 Rio Paralympic Gold Medal and the world’s second-best Serbian Borislava Peric Rankovic to secure for himself the medal and script history.

The best table tennis, classes 1-5 are for wheelchair users. Class 4 athletes have a balanced sitting balance and fully functioning arms and hands. The impairment may be due to lower spinal cord injury or brain damage.

Patel started playing the sport 13 years ago at the Association of the Blind in the Vastrapur district of Ahmedabad, where he was an ITI student with a disability.

There he saw visually impaired children playing table tennis and decided to take up the sport. He won his first medal in the competition by representing the Rotary Club in Ahmedabad, where he has now settled after marriage to Nikunj Patel, who has played junior cricket in Gujarat.

He reached number two in the world in 2011 after winning the Indian Silver Medal in the PTT Thailand Table Tennis Championship. In October 2013, Patel won second silver in the women’s singles class 4 at the Asian Para Table Tennis Championships in Beijing.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the country to congratulate paddlers Bhavinaben Patelia on winning the historic silver medal, India’s first, at the Tokyo Paralympics on Sunday.

Patel became the only Indian woman on Sunday to win a medal at the Paralympics when she signed a historic silver when she lost 0-3 to world number one paddler Ying Zhou in the women’s singles table tennis class 4 final.

“Bhavina Patel inspired the Indian contingent and sports fans to win silver at the #Palympics. Your exceptional determination and skills have brought glory to India. Congratulations to you on this exceptional achievement,” President Kovind tweeted.

The 34-year-old Patel’s impressive race in the tournament ended in a deadly 7-11 5-11 6-11 loss to double gold medalist Zhou at the women’s singles summit, which lasted 19 minutes.

With this medal, the Indian team opened their account in the Games.

President, Prime Minister, Head of State congratulating Bhavinaben Patelia on the Paralympic Silver

Prime Minister Modi said Patel’s achievement is a motivation for young people.

“The remarkable Bhavina Patel has a scripted history! She brings home a historic silver medal. Congratulations to her on that. Her life journey is motivating and also attracts more young people to the sport. #Palympics,” he tweeted.

Modi also spoke to Patel and congratulated him on a significant achievement. He also wished him all the best for his future endeavors.

Patel is from Sundhiya village in Vadnagar, Gujarat, Mehsana and Modi told him that he has visited Sundhiya often and asked if his family is still there.

Bhavina told him that his parents are still there.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congressman Rahul Gandhi also went on social networking to wish Patel success.

“Congratulations to #BhavinaPatel for winning a silver medal in #ParaTableTennis. Your perseverance and success is the motivation for many,” Sitharaman wrote in his handle.

Rahul Gandhi added: “Congratulations to Bhavina Pateli on the #Silver victory. India thanks you for your achievement. You have made the people proud.” India’s first personal gold medalist Abhinav Bindra also hailed Patel’s “mental resilience”.

“Fantastic performance from @ BhavinaPatel6 to win silver and open an Indian account at # Tokyo2020 @Paralympics. A great demonstration of skills and mental endurance. Very proud! # Praise4Para,” he tweeted in a letter.

Deepa Malik, who is the current president of the Indian Paralympic Committee (PCI), was the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics after winning silver by shooting in Rio five years ago.

Congratulations to Patel on his medal, Malik said: “It is absolutely wonderful to see Bhavina’s performance, the way he has played the competition, has amazed opponents.

“His game, his skill, his patience, his return, the way he has kept his focus, it’s speechless, it’s world class.

“This is the skill and serenity that has made her achieve the silver skill at the Paralympics, and our silver girl has given this gift to the people on National Sports Day, the most appropriate day to create history for all athletes.” Malik said Patel has ruined the taboos related to disability.

“On a personal level, I feel like it’s a message transfer. I’ve always wanted women’s participation to come out so we can create inclusion, break this stereotype and taboo around disability, and Bhavina has just done it.” Former cricketers Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble also congratulated wheelchair paddlers on their historic medal.

“Congratulations to #BhavinaPatel on creating history by winning India’s first silver medal in the women’s singles class 4 table tennis event at the ongoing #TokyoParalympics. A great display of concentration, work and mental strength,” Sehwag wrote.

Laxman tweeted: “Silver Medal for India. Congratulations to #BhavinaPatel, who created history when he became the first Indian para-paddler to win a medal in the history of the #Polympics.” Kumble added: “Congratulations #BhavinaPatel Proud of you.”