MASTER AT THE TABLE: Paddler Bhavinaben at it again, overcomes China’s Zhang to reach final

Tokyo, August 28

Bhavinaben Patel continued to script history as she became the first Indian to enter the final of a table tennis event at the Paralympics with a hard-fought 3-2 win over China’s Miao Zhang in a Class 4 semifinal here today.

The 34-year-old, who has surprised even the Indian camp with her sensational show, stunned her world No. 3 Chinese opponent 7-11 11-7 11-4 9-11 11-8 in a semifinal showdown that lasted 34 minutes. Midway through the match, Patel took a time-out after which there was no stopping her. Armed with two match points, she notched up the win, extending her purple patch.

This was Patel’s first victory against former world No. 1 Zhang. The two players had met 11 times before. Patel will take on world No. 1 Chinese paddler Ying Zhou in the summit clash tomorrow.

Rakesh in pre-quarters

Rakesh Kumar continued his impressive run of form to storm into the pre-quarterfinals while his teammate Shyam Sundar Swami made a second-round exit as the Indian archers had a mixed day.

A day after he shot the highest score — 699 out of a maximum 720 — by an Indian para archer in the qualification round, the wheelchair-bound 36-year-old Kumar easily overcame Ka Chuen Ngai of Hong Kong by a massive 13-point margin. Kumar had near perfect four ends, dropping just one point each en route to totalling 144 out of a possible 150.

Earlier, 21st seed Sundar, who also got a bye into the second round, had a narrow 139-142 defeat to 2012 Paralympics silver medallist Matt Stutzman, the armless archer from the USA who shoots with his feet.

Bhati misfires, bows out

India’s javelin thrower Ranjeet Bhati bowed out after failing to register even a single valid throw in his six attempts in the men’s class F57 final.

The 24-year-old from Faridabad had finished fourth at the Moroccan Grand Prix in 2019 and qualified for the Paralympics after winning gold medals in the state-level tournaments in Gurugram and national competition in Bengaluru. — PTI

Tokyo paralympics highlights

Jump for joy

Netherland’s Fleur Jong was in a league of her own as she increased her world record to 6.16m to clinch gold in women’s T62 long jump final. “This is my first Paralympic medal — a gold right away and in my favourite event. She will also be in action in the women’s 100m T64. South Africa’s Ntando Mahlangu won the men’s T63 long jump, also with a world record of 7.17m.

1st gold for Ethiopia

Tigist Gezahagn Menigstu made history for her country as she won the women’s 1,500m T13 with a time of 4:23.24. Ethiopia had only claimed two silver medals at the Games before through track athletes Wondiye Fikre Indelbu and Tamiru Demisse at London 2012 and Rio 2016, respectively.

Dream debuts

After missing out in Rio 2016, France’s Alexis Hanquinquant made the most of his first appearance by taking the men’s PTS4 title. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s Sevda Valiyeva won her maiden gold medal as the country secured three titles on the second day of the judo competition.