Posted by WOMEN’S TABLE TENNIS SINGLES, CLASS 4 SEMI-FINAL : Bhavina Hasmukhbhai Patel scripts history as she’s India’s first para athelete who’ll compete in a table tennis final, she’ll be playing her gold medal match tomorrow morning at 7:15 AM IST.
Today Bhavina in her first ever Paralympics semi-final defeated world number 3 China’s Zhang Miao 3-2. Bhavina didn’t have the best of starts, game was evenly poised at 5-5 and from that stage she lost her opening set 7-11. The second set saw a neck to neck fight where Bhavina had a 8-6 lead and then converted it to a lead of 11-7 to bag the second set. In the third set Bhavina set the stage on fire with a 5-0 lead that she converted and finished with a 11-4 margin to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Zhang staged a comeback and held her nerve to win the fourth set 11-9 and it was all down to the decider. In the fifth and final set Bhavina again had a healthy lead early on, she didn’t fail to capitalise this time as she won the final set 11-8 to seal a spot in the finals.
Bhavina is 12th in world rankings and she’s handed major upsets to many in the ongoing Paralympics, she defeated Joyce de Oliveira in her knockout game who’s world ranking is 8, Bhavina then defeated Borislava Peric-Rankovic in quarter-final who’s world ranking is 2. Today she handed another major upset to Zhang Miao, world no 3 to seal her finals slot. A dream run that’s scripted and will be remember for long long time.
ARCHERY MEN’S INDIVIDUAL COMPOUND CATEGORY (1/16) : Indian archer Shyam Sundar Swami see’s an early exit as he loses to USA’s Matt Stutzman, he fell 4 shy to end the 1/16 eliminator round. Shyam Sundar gathered 27 in opening set to which the American replied with a 28. In the second set the points were levelled at 55 as Shyam gathered 28 and Matt gathered 27. The American with a 29 in set 3 had a point lead as the Indian gathered 28. Matt extended his lead by 3 points at the end of 4th set as he hit a perfect 30 to which Shyam replied with a 28. The final set saw both archers settle for 28 and that was the win for Matt with a perfect 30 in set 4. Matt ends with a total of 142 and Shyam ends with 139, finishing 4 shy.
ARCHERY MEN’S INDIVIDUAL COMPOUND CATEGORY (1/16) : Indian archer Rakesh Kumar was next in action after Shyam Sundar and continues his good run as he advances to the quarterfinals (1/8). Rakesh Kumar started his outing with a perfect 10 and ends set 1 on 29 to which Hong Kong’s Ngai Ka Chuen responded with a 27, a comforting lead first up. In round 2, Rakesh again gathered 29 to which Ngai responded with a 25, Ngai under pressure put up a 27 in the 3rd set to which the Indian again replied with a 29. Hat-trick of 29s was a lot for Ngai to take as he fumbled under pressure shooting a 24 in set 4 and the Indian comfortably shot a 28 to end the set. The final set 5 saw the Indian again gather 29 points and Ngai replied with an improved 28 but surely wasn’t enough to surpass the healthy lead of Rakesh Kumar as he bags the win with a total of 141 and Ngai ends on 131.
MEN’S JAVELIN THROW F57 FINAL : Indian Javelin thrower Ranjeet Bhati put up a very disappointing show as he failed to register a score in his given six attempts as each throw was a foul throw, ends his outing without a mark.
That was it on India’s schedule for the day, a big day tomorrow for India starting with Bhavina Patel’s gold medal match and finishing with 4 more medal events. Stay tuned !
Bureau of sports 