Paddler Bhavina Patel wrapped up her sensational Tokyo 2020 campaign on Sunday with a historic silver medal, becoming only the second Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics.
This was India’s first medal at the ongoing Games in Tokyo.
She went down to world No 1 Ying Zhou of China in the women’s singles table tennis class 4 final but earned India’s first-medal in the sport at the Paralympics. The 34-year-old’s impressive run at the Games ended with a fighting 7-11, 5-11, 6-11 loss to Zhou, now a two-time singles gold medallist, in the women’s singles summit clash which lasted 19 minutes.
World No 12 Patel had also lost to Zhou, one of the most decorated para-paddlers of China, in her first group stage match earlier in the week in the group stage. Since then, she beat world No 9 Megan Shackleton in a must-win Group A match, downed the world No 8 Joyce de Oliveira in the round of 16, knocked world No 2 and Rio 2016 gold medallist Borislava Peric Rankovic in the quarter-finals and stunned world No 3 and Rio 2016 silver medallist Miao Zhang, who she had lost to 11 times before, to reach the final.
Talk about a stunning run.
Tokyo Paralympics, table tennis: How Bhavina Patel kept calm and carried on for a massive SF win
Tokyo 2020: Meet Bhavina Patel, first-ever Indian table tennis player to earn a Paralympics medal
Up against an opponent Zhou, who had five previous Paralympic medals to her name including singles gold medals at Beijing and London, Patel’s run came to an end but not without a historic silver.
The medal, that came on India’s National Sports day, got social media talking:
An accomplishment that will echo through #IND 🗣️
— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 29, 2021
Bhavina Patel receives her medal as she wins the nation's first #silver in #ParaTableTennis at the #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics ❤️pic.twitter.com/l4xzgHpYWK
Zhou #CHN is just a better player in terms of her skill level. Kudos to Bhavina for giving her best & what an incredible performance overall👏🏾.
— Neha Aggarwal Sharma OLY (@nehaaggarwal) August 29, 2021
SILVER MEDAL for Bhavina Patel 🇮🇳🥈 So so proud! #Paralympics #TableTennis @ParalympicIndia #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/CYBVwLbkzK
#Tokyo2020 #Paralympics
— The Field (@thefield_in) August 29, 2021
"On a personal level, I feel like it's passing on the baton"
Rio 2016 🥈medallist Deepa Malik is a proud woman as she passes on her congratulations to Tokyo 2020 🥈 medallist Bhavina Patel.
🎥 @DeepaAthletepic.twitter.com/V65gW3OfXK
@BhavinaPatel6 pic.twitter.com/xdgut46NYP
— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) August 29, 2021
Our Silver Smiles And here's the SILVER... Passing on the baton to a woman athlete on a wheelchair #BhavinaPatel !! Exceptionally proud moment! India wins its first medal at #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics , proudly presenting our #silvergirl pic.twitter.com/iAbNQIQyXJ
— Deepa Malik (@DeepaAthlete) August 29, 2021
The remarkable Bhavina Patel has scripted history! She brings home a historic Silver medal. Congratulations to her for it. Her life journey is motivating and will also draw more youngsters towards sports. #Paralympics
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 29, 2021
Congratulations to Bhavina Patel for winning the #Silver . India applauds your achievement. You’ve done the nation proud. #TokyoParalympics pic.twitter.com/WcsI64JEFu
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 29, 2021
What a proud moment for 🇮🇳 as Bhavina Patel wins a Silver, our first medal at the #Paralympics #TableTennis that to on our National Sports Day. Hope Bhavina’s medal and fighting spirit inspires many people to start playing sport
— Viren Rasquinha (@virenrasquinha) August 29, 2021
#WATCH Family members and friends of Para-paddler Bhavina Patel in Mehsana perform 'garba' to celebrate her bringing home a Silver medal in her maiden Paralympic Games pic.twitter.com/h55CAAycOG
— ANI (@ANI) August 29, 2021
It is a silver for Bhavina Patel in the women's singles Class 4 #TableTennis competition in #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics. In the whole competition, she lost only to Chinese star Zhou Ying (in the background) and her clenched fists are an indication of a memorable Paralympics debut. pic.twitter.com/zicKKApZV8
— G Rajaraman (@g_rajaraman) August 29, 2021
Congratulation Bhavina Patel, we are all proud of you and you made the National sports day more sweeter 😍 #beyondthelimit #Paralympics #Silver #tabletennis pic.twitter.com/yGTzUfRPE4
— sreejesh p r (@16Sreejesh) August 29, 2021
India's first medal in the ongoing Paralympics is here!🥈
— Ravi Kumar Dahiya (@ravidahiya60) August 29, 2021
Congratulations Bhavina Patel for winning the Silver medal in Table Tennis!💯 We are so happy and proud of you.🇮🇳 #Paralympics #Cheer4India #JaiHind pic.twitter.com/XuYckKj1PO
Silver medal for India.
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) August 29, 2021
Many Congratulations to #BhavinaPatel who has created history by becoming the first Indian para-paddler to win a medal in #Paralympics history.🇮🇳🏓. pic.twitter.com/dyc3Cw3gEh
Bhavina Patel you have shown that where there’s a will, there’s a way!
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) August 28, 2021
Very inspired by your performance and wishing you all the best for the next game.
The entire country is with you 🇮🇳 #GoForGold #Paralympics
Bhavina Patel made history in #Paralympics 🥈 the nation is proud of you...@NBCOlympics
— Harleen Kaur Deol (@imharleenDeol) August 29, 2021
Bravo Bhavina Patel 👏Making history by winning the Silver Medal at Paralympics. Your steely resolve and determination will inspire generations of Indians. #IND #Paralympics.#BhavinaPatel vc @ddsportschannel pic.twitter.com/M7ztYVhH6T
— Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) August 29, 2021
#ParaTableTennis ..It is a silver medal full of gut, courage and self-belief for Bhavina Patel..She goes down to the former #Paralympics champion in C4 from '08 and '12, Zhou Ying by 0-3 in the finals (the player who she lost to in 1st match).. As for Bhavina goes, a star is born
— Vishank Razdan (@VishankRazdan) August 29, 2021
First Indian woman to win a #Paralympics medal in table tennis, BHAVINA PATEL 🥈👏🏾
— Jeni (@JenishaRani) August 29, 2021
A telling medal ceremony photo in women's singles class 4 #Tabletennis – 3 medals to China, the silver to Bhavina Patel who stunned the Chinese world No 3 in semis.#Tokyo2020 #Paralympics https://t.co/LfL2jH3pGM
— Zenia D'cunha (@ZENIADCUNHA) August 29, 2021
Many congratulations to #BhavinaPatel for winning the historic 🥈at #Paralympics.
— DK (@DineshKarthik) August 29, 2021
This coming on #NationalSportsDay makes it even more special. 👏#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/jyoIMRiLe6