Hiten Shukla
A day after Harmeet Desai of Surat gave Gujarati’s to rejoice with a maiden National crown, Ahmedabad-based para paddler Bhavina Patel has given a reason to continue the celebrations. Bhavina with her stupendous show clinched gold at the Para Table Tennis Egypt Open 2020 held at Alexandria, Egypt.
Competing in the Class 3-4, Bhavina with her skills and tactics defeated Turkey’s Oluk Irem 3-1 in the final.
Interestingly, Bhavina hadn’t dropped a single game till the final. In all the matches prior to title round, she had blanked her opponents. The Amadvadi had outplayed Lee Ya Chu (3-0) and Abdelhak Maona of Egypt (3-0) in semifinals and quarterfinals respectively. In the round of last-16 Bhavina had beaten Iraq’s Al Waeli Rusul 3-0.
More than 110 para table tennis players from 23 countries participated in the event.
“Congratulations to Bhavina, who has made us proud once again. She is a very hard-working player and GSTTA wishes her many more gold medals in future,” said Vipul Mittra, IAS, president Gujarat State Table Tennis Association.