Peddler Bhavina Patel from Gujarat enters Tokyo Paralympics Final

Gandhinagar: Ahmedabad based Bhavina Patel who is originally from Mahesana in North Gujarat bear her world number 3 Chinese opponent in the semifinal of Tokyo Paralympics and reached final. The semifinal between Bhavina and her Chinese opponent lasted 34 minutes. Bhavina has become the first Indian to enter the final of a table tennis event in the Paralympics.

Bhavina will next take on world number one Chinese paddler Ying Zhou in the summit clash on August 29. This is Bhavina’s maiden Paralympics. She lost the opening game but later made a strong recovery by winning the next two games. She lost fourth game against Zhang but won fifth match to enter the final. In the quarterfinal Bhavina Patel had defeated 2016 Rio Paralympics gold winner and world number two Borislava Peric Rankovic of Serbia.

Bhavina is from Sundhiya in Mahesana district of Gujarat. Her both legs stopped working due to impact of Polio when she was a child. She has completed graduation. She was admitted to Andhjan Mandal in Ahmedabad for computer studies where she observed the players playing table tennis. Along with studies at Andhjan Mandal, Bhavina would work as case paper writer in Civil hospital for three years to manage her expenses. Bhavina’s father is a farmer who also runs cutlery and stationary shop in Sundhiya village. DeshGujarat