Tokyo Paralympic Games: Second time’s a charm

Tokyo, August 26

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Indian paddler Bhavinaben Patel progressed to the Round of 16 in the women’s singles Class 4 table tennis event with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Great Britain’s Megan Shackleton at the Tokyo Paralympics here today.

I am very happy to be among the top 16. We had to fight for each point. I am very happy to have won such a tough battle. Now I want to play even better. I stayed patient (during the closely contested third and fourth games). I focused on each point and tried not to get distracted by any unwanted thought —  Bhavinaben Patel

Indians in action (Aug 27)

Archery: Men’s Recurve Individual Open — Harvinder Singh, Vivek Chikara; Men’s Compound Individual Open — Rakesh Kumar, Shyam Sundar Swami; Women’s Compound Individual Open — Jyoti Baliyan; Compound Mixed Team Open — Jyoti Baliyan & TBC

Powerlifting: Men’s 65kg — Jaideep Deswal; Women’s 50kg — Sakina Khatun

The 34-year-old Indian dispatched Shackleton, the world No. 9, 11-7 9-11 17-15 13-11 in a contest that lasted 41 minutes. The other Indian in the fray, Sonalben Manubhai Patel, however, ended her campaign after losing 12-10 5-11 3-11 9-11 to MG Lee of South Korea in her second women’s singles Class 3 group match. She had lost her first group match on Wednesday.

Earlier in the morning, competing in a do-or-die match, the world No. 12 Bhavinaben started on a high note, clinching the first game in just eight minutes but Shackleton made a strong recovery to take the second. With the fixture poised at 1-1, the two paddlers fought toe-to-toe in the next two games with the Indian coming on top at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

This was Bhavinaben first win in the tournament as she was blanked 3-0 by world No. 1 Chinese paddler Zhou Ying in the opening round on Wednesday.

Patel has three points from two games and moves to the knockout round along with table leader Ying. — PTI

Swimmer Suyash Jadhav to miss one event due to illness

Tokyo: Swimmer Suyash Jadhav will miss Friday’s 200m individual medley SM7 event at the Paralympic Games here as he is suffering from cold and sore throat. The Indian contingent’s chef-de-mission Gursharan Singh today said Jadhav is a bit under the weather and doctors have advised him not to compete on Friday. His Covid-19 test report is, however, negative. “Jadhav has cold and sore throat. Doctors said he should take rest. So we decided he will not take part tomorrow. But he will be fine for his other two events,” Singh said. “His Covid report is negative,” he added. ptic

First medal for host nation

The second day of the Paralympics witnessed 11 new world records as Japan won its first gold of the edition. USA’s Anastasia Pagonis broke her own women’s 400m S11 world record to win United States’ first gold medal at the Games. The 17-year-old finished in a time of 4:54.49 and nearly half a length ahead of two-time Paralympics champion and three-time world champion Liesette Bruinsma from the Netherlands. USA’s Gia Pergolini secured victory in the women’s 100m backstroke S13. She broke the world record in the heats and in the finals. Japan’s Takayuki Suzuki made his dream come true of winning a gold medal for host nation and setting a new Paralympics record when he hit the wall first in the men’s 100m freestyle S4. Suzuki is participating in his fifth Paralympics. agencies