Ahmedabad – Indian player Bhavina Patel reached the table tennis finals after defeating Chinese player Zheng Miao by 3-2 in the Class 4 category of the Tokyo Paralympics semi-finals on Saturday.
In a historic turn of events, Bhavina defeated Zheng Miao by 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, and 11-8 in the Women’s singles table tennis semi-finals tournament to secure a place in the Paralympics finals. Besides, she had a clear win in 3 out of 5 sets.
The 36-year-old previously won against World No. 2 Borislava Peric Rankovich of Serbia in 3 consecutive sets by 11-5, 11-6, and 11-7 in the Quarterfinals.
Earlier, Bhavina was pitched against 2016 Rio Paralympics gold medallist Joyce de Oliveira of Brazil. However, she beat her opponent in a round of 16 to enter the Quarterfinals on Friday.
The table tennis Paralympics consists of 11 categories wherein players in categories 1 to 5 participate on a wheelchair, categories 6 to 10 can play standing, and category 11 players suffer from mental issues.