New Delhi: The Gujarat duo of Bhavina Patel and Sonalben Patel will lead India’s charge in table tennis, while 21-year-old Aruna Tanwar would be the country’s sole representative in taekwondo at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, starting on August 24. Jai Deep and Sakina Khatun will be competing in the powerlifting event.
In the women’s singles, Bhavina will be competing in the wheelchair class 4 category, while Sonalben is in the wheelchair class 3 category. They will also team up for the women’s doubles event.
The Patel duo will be starting their qualification rounds on August 25. The semifinal and final are scheduled for August 28 and 29. Bhavina is ranked eighth in the world, while Sonalben is 11 steps lower. The two Asian Games medalists had been training at the Blind People’s Association in Ahmedabad under Coach Lalan Doshi.
On the other hand, the Haryana-based Tanwar will take the mat in the women’s U-49kg K44 category Round of 16 encounter on September 2. Tanwar, a silver medalist at the 2018 Asian Championship and a bronze medalist at the 2019 World Championship, is currently ranked 30th in the world.
Khatun, who was born in West Bengal, had been training at the Sports Authority of India centre in Bengaluru, while Haryana-born Deep was putting in hard yards at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Rohtak.
Khatun, who will compete in the women’s 50kg category, made history in 2014 by becoming the first Indian woman to win a Commonwealth Games bronze in Glasgow. She also won silver at the 2018 Para Asian Games.
