Tokyo: India paddler Bhavina Patel defeated Brit Megan Shackleton to advance into the pre-quarterfinals women’s singles Class 4 Group A encounter at the Tokyo Paralympics. Earlier, the Indian lost to Chinese Zhou Ying in her first group tie and needed to win against Shackleton to advance into the next round.
The 34-year-old Indian got off to a good start. After a back-and-forth fight in the early stages, she won the first game 11-7. The second game was another close call. At 6-6, Shackleton took the lead but the Indian rallied back to make it 9-9. However, it was the World No.10 Brit, who prevailed 11-9 winning two match points.
In a thrilling match #IND @BhavinaPatel6 wins her 2nd group stage match 3-1 against #GBR Megan Shackleton
A great comeback by Bhavina👏#Cheer4India #Praise4Para #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/ewbLnzEIEm
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) August 26, 2021
The World No.8 Indian once got the lead winning the third set 17-15 before pocketing the fourth too with a 13-11 scoreline. She will now face Joyce de Oliveira of Brazil in the pre-quarterfinals. If all goes well, Bhavina will face Serbian Borislava Peric Rankovic in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, another Indian Sonalben Patel will be in action later on the day as she will be competing against South Korea’s Mi Gyu Lee in her final Class 3 Group D encounter. Earlier on Wednesday, Sonalben lost to World No.4 Li Qian of China 11-9, 3-11, 17-15, 7-11, 4-11.
To qualify for the knockouts, Sonalben has to beat Lee by a 3-0 margin. If she does, the Indian and the South Korean will make it to the next round by the virtue of having 3-0 victories in their pocket. Qian lost to Lee 0-3 and won against Sonalben 3-2.
