Sportz Point Awards 2022 | Bhavina Patel – Para Athlete of the Year 202

Missed domestically in 2010, missed Rio and then returned victorious at Tokyo Games in 2021 with silver; Bhavina Patel was all set to establish her legacy at the Birmingham Games in 2022. Bhavina’s Gold in Para Table Tennis in Women’s Singles Divisions 3-5 makes her Para Athlete of the Year 2022 at the Sportz Point Awards 2022.

After her silver at the Tokyo Paralympics, Bhavina was one of the athletes expected to do well at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. In fact, he was aware of it too. But like many other para-athletes, he was always under the radar.

Patel started the Birmingham Games really well, dropping just one game in the entire tournament against Australia’s Daniela Di Toro in the first match. After that, he was brutal against his opponents, beating them 3-0 in every game.

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India, the then-rookie Bhavina lost in the semi-finals by just one point and had “scores to settle” at the 2022 Birmingham Games.

“I need to complete an account(I have an account to settle). In 2010, I lost the deciding game by one point. I have to break that record in Birmingham,” Bhavina said at SAI’s event ahead of CWG 2022.

He cleared the situation by defeating Nigeria’s Ifechukwude Christiana Ikpeoyi in straight sets in the final. Bhavina’s competitive and aggressive nature was revealed in the last set when she had to come back from a 2-6 deficit against the Nigerian.

Bhavina has already set an example of what a bulletproof mind with strong skills can achieve. His story is an inspiration not only for people with special disabilities but for everyone.

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“My training center in Gujarat receives many calls every day from devotees who say they want to be like Bhavina. They think if Bhavina can do it, we all can. It’s a big thing for me to be an inspiration to some, and I want to inspire more, this quote from him before the gold medal match resonated with his story.

On her own terms, champion Bhavina Patel is Sportz Point’s 2022 Athlete of the Year.