No food, no sleep, only TT: Bhavinaben Patel’s mantra for success

New Delhi, August 28

A robot with advanced features was at hand whenever long-time coach Lalan Doshi was not. But a Paralympics medal would have probably remained a far cry had it not been for Bhavinaben Patel’s initial interest giving way to passion, and passion giving way to obsession with table tennis.

Diagnosed with polio when she was 12 months old, the 34-year-old is now scripting history at will, having become the first Indian to enter the final of a table tennis event in the Paralympics.

“I first played the sport for fun but a bronze medal at a national level club event in Delhi led me into thinking that I can do well in top national and international tournaments,” Patel told PTI from Tokyo.

“I became passionate about it and soon I found myself obsessed with the sport. The obsession with table tennis reached a point where food and sleep took a backseat in my life,” she added.

Turning point

Patel considers a move to Ahmedabad to learn computer science as her life’s turning point as her mannerisms, her way of speaking and her purpose in life, everything changed for the good.

“I came to Ahmedabad in 2004-05 to do a course in computer science... Before that, I never knew that a game like table tennis existed since I was living in a small village. But things changed so much after coming to Ahmedabad,” said Patel, daughter of Hasmukhbhai, a small-time shopkeeper at Sundhiya village in Gujarat’s Mehsana district.

Patel started playing the sport 15 years ago at the Blind People’s Association at Vastrapur area of Ahmedabad where she was a student of ITI (Indian Training Institute) for people with disabilities. She saw visually impaired children playing table tennis and decided to take up the sport. Patel, who is settled in Ahmedabad after her marriage to Nikul, won her first medal in a competition while representing the Rotary Club in Ahmedabad.

“The bronze medal at national level inspired me to take it up seriously. I told myself if I could win a bronze without much preparation, I can achieve more with proper training,” she said.

“From thereon I was playing table tennis all day. The superintendent in our institute (ITI) got me involved in it and we were coached by Lallan ji,” she added. “In 2011, I won a silver medal in an international tournament in Bangkok,” she added.

Robot

Patel owns a robot, which costs Rs 4 lakh, to help her train. “I got the robot from TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) in 2020. It helped me improve my game. It’s a very advanced robot. It throws the ball at you like a simulation... otherwise Lallan sir was there most of the time to train me,” she said. — PTI

...I don’t consider myself as disabled, I am always confident I can do anything and today I also proved that we are not behind. I fought against China and it is always said that it is difficult to win against China. Today I proved that nothing is impossible, you can do everything.

...When I came here, I just thought that I would give my 100 per cent without thinking of anything. If you give 100 per cent, the medal will come, that was what I thought. If I continue with this confidence with the blessings of the people of my country, I think I will win gold tomorrow. Bhavinaben Patel

Class 4

According to the International Paralympic Committee, competitors in Class 4 have fair sitting balance and fully functional arms and hands. Their impairment may be due to a lower spinal-cord lesion or cerebral palsy.

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