Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS): As the clock ticks down for the Opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games in Paris on Wednesday, the spotlight will be on para table tennis one of the eight sports when the first Paralympic Games were held in Rome in 1960.
The world will be waiting to see whether China's dominance of the sport will end in Paris. Paddlers from Australia, France, Japan and Poland will be among those hoping to get the better of the strong Chinese contingent at Paris and claim gold medals.
Among those hoping to get the better of the Chinese para-table tennis stars will be India's Bhavina Patel, the Tokyo Paralympic Games silver medallist who will be hoping to upgrade her medal this time in Paris.
Bhavina had surprised many in Tokyo by storming into the final of the women's singles Class 4 where she lost to Ying Zhou of China in three games, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6, launching a tremendous fight back after losing the opening game.
Bhavina's silver medal was one of the highlights of India's historic performance as the country claimed its best-ever haul in the Paralympic Games of 19 medals including five gold.
Bhavina's historic medal came on August 29, 2021, and now exactly three years after that successful campaign, Bhavina will be getting into the groove hoping to capture the gold that eluded her in Tokyo.
The 37-year-old will once again be facing a strong challenge from Chinese players who had won 16 of the 31 medal events, featuring in 11 singles finals and winning gold in nine of them.
Australia, France and Poland, who claimed two gold medals each at Tokyo 2020, will along with the Republic of Korea, be looking to upstage the Asian Para table tennis powerhouse in Paris. Though it would be very difficult to end China's total domination of the sport, these countries will be hoping to bring the Asian powerhouse's medal count to Paris.
Bhavina on her part will be hoping to claim India's first gold medal in para table tennis in Paris.
Hailing from a small sleepy village called Sundhiya in Vadnagar Taluka in the Mahesana District of Gujarat, Bhavina's success is a fairytale laced with nothing but hard work and the will to excel.
Bhavina, who suffered from poliomyelitis when she was 12 months old which impaired the lower part of her body because of a lack of proper treatment in the small village by a family of five that could not afford the costly medicines, will be participating in women's along with Sonalben Patel. She will be a top medal contender in women's individual C4 while Sonal will be contesting in women's individual C3. They will both pair up in the women's doubles D10 section, hoping to bag another medal for India.
Bhavina was introduced to table tennis in 2004 while learning computers at the Blind People's Association, a non-governmental agency in the state capital Ahmedabad. Having taken up para-table tennis as a means of maintaining fitness, Bhavina soon became proficient in the sport. Coached by Lalan Joshi, she also bagged a gold medal for India in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, a bronze medal in the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou last year, and silver in the Asian Championships in the 2013 Asian Championships.
Besides, she has also won 46 medals in minor tournaments including gold in the ITTF Costa Brava Spanish Para Open earlier this year, gold in women's doubles in the ITTF Egypt Para Open doubles and a silver in singles; gold in singles in 2023 ITTF Thailand Para Open and gold in doubles in 2023 ITTF Costa Brava Spanish Para Open.
The 37-year-old Bhavina is currently ranked World No. 4 in Class 4 and No.8 in women in the wheelchair category. Her best ranking ever, No.3 in Class 4 was achieved earlier this year in April, which proves Bhavina is in great form and will be one of the top contenders for a medal in her category.