Tokyo Paralympics: Indian paddler Bhavinaben moves to round of 16

Tokyo: Indian paddler Bhavinaben Patel advanced to the Round of 16 in the women’s singles Class 4 table tennis event after beating Great Britain’s Megan Shackleton 3-1 at the Tokyo Paralympics, here on Thursday.

The 34-year-old Indian beat Shackleton 11-7 9-11 17-15 13-11 in a hard-fought contest that lasted for 41 minutes.

This was Patel’s first win in the tournament after she lost 0-3 to Chinese paddler Zhou Ying in the opening round on Wednesday.

Patel now has three points from two games and moves to the knockout round along with table leader Ying.

Athletes in Class 4 category have fair sitting balance and fully functional arms and hands. Their impairment may be due to a lower spinal-cord lesion or cerebral palsy.

Another Indian paddler Sonalben Manubhai Patel will be in action later in the day. (UNI)