Know who is Bhavina Patel? Creating history at Tokyo Paralympics 2020.
In the semi-final match, she defeated the world number three Chinese player. In the match played on Saturday, she defeated Zhang Miao of China 7-11 11-7 11-4 9-11 11-8 in the women’s singles Class 4 semi-final.
Bhavina Patel, the female tennis player who brought India’s name to the Paralympics, has ensured a silver medal. In the semi-final match, she defeated the world number three Chinese player.
Even polio could not stop from playing: Bhavina kept focused on her goal, bypassing all the struggles in life. Bhavina was born on 6 November 1986 in Vadnagar, Gujarat. A year later, she was struck by polio disease. There were a total of five people in Bhavina’s middle-class family including parents, one brother, one sister. When Bhavina, who continued her studies in the village, reached the fourth grade, her father got her surgery done in Visakhapatnam.
Started playing in 2004:
Even after the surgery, due to poor financial condition, she could not maintain herself properly and this disease took her completely. However, Bhavina did not give up and after completing her 12th standard, her father got her enrolled in the Association of Visually Impaired Persons in 2004. Where Bhavina learned a computer course from Tejal Ben Lakhia and continued her studies through correspondence at Gujarat University.
It was here that when Bhavina came to know that some sports activities also take place, Tejal made her meet Lalan Doshi, who is also Bhavina’s coach at present. It was he who started teaching this player the tricks of table tennis and after three years of hard work, Bhavina won her first gold medal in the national para table tennis event. After this, Bhavina did not look back and went ahead, winning medals in many tournaments.
Achievements of Bhavina Patel:
First Indian para table tennis player to win a silver medal at the ITTF PTT Asian Tete Regional Championships in 2013.
She rose to the second position in the world rankings by winning a silver medal in the individual category at the 2011 PTT Thailand Table Tennis Championships.
-2017 Won bronze medal in International Table Tennis Federation Asian Para Table Tennis Championship held in China.
Bhavina has won five gold, 13 silver, and eight bronze medals in 28 international tournaments.
Byline- Deepshikha