Table tennis medal secured at Paralymics by Bhavina Patel

pBhavinaben 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 Chinarsquos Miao Zhang in a class four semifinal on Saturday August 28ppThere is no bronze-medal play-off in table tennis in the Tokyo Paralympics both losing semifinalists are guaranteed a bronze The 34-year-old Indian beat thenbspRionbspgold medallist 11-5 11-6 11-7in 18minutesin their quarterfinal contestppI can win my semifinal match with the support of the people of India Please keep cheering for merdquo Bhavina who hails from Vadnagar in Gujaratrsquos Mehsana district said after Fridayrsquos win Bhavina moved to Ahmedabad after marrying Nikul Patel who has played junior cricket for Gujarat Her father runs a small cutlery shop in the villageppldquoWe have not reached even half the destination She needs to work very hard to win on Saturday to ensure a silver medal and work even harder to win the gold After that her focus will shift to doubles We want to leave Tokyo with two medalsrdquo Bhavinarsquos husband Nikul told TOI over phone from TokyoppldquoShe is 90 disabled but she has the will power and determination of 10 able-bodied persons I get inspired from her will and confidencerdquo Nikul told PTI referring to his wifes disability due to polio affliction in childhoodppAthletes in Class 4 category have fair sitting balance and fully functional arms and hands Their impairment may be due to a lower spinal cord lesion or cerebral palsy Bhavina is employed with Employees State Insurance CorporationppBeating the defending champion mdash who had also won silver at the Beijing and London Paralympics mdash without breaking a sweat would have boosted Bhavinarsquos confidence ahead of the last-four clash against Zhang Paralympic Committee of India president Deepa Malik who is also in Tokyo said in video footage on her Twitter handle ldquoIt is sure that we can see a medal from her Tomorrow morningrsquos match semifinal is a huge decider what colour of the medal she will winrdquo she saidppGujarat State Table Tennis Association president Vipul Mittra said ldquoShe has been a top-class player for more than a decade now and I am happy that she got a chance to showcase her talent at sportsrsquo biggest stage I am sure she will continue to shine and inspire othersrdquo Bhavinarsquos coach Lallan Doshi told said the para paddler is reaping the rewards of her resilience and hard workppldquoWe have put in a lot of effort to improve the coordination between hand eye and mind We have been studying her opponents and devising strategies to make her shots difficult for themrdquo Doshi saidppThe improvement in her game has been possible because of ldquoquick responsesrdquo through exercise he said adding that the focus has been on ldquoreceiving the next ballrdquo and ldquoblockingrdquo ldquoShe was made to train against two players helping her body achieve flexibility to counter the opponentrsquos shotsrdquo Doshi saidp