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'Her life journey is motivating': PM Modi congratulates Bhavinaben Patel for historic silver medal at Tokyo Paralympics
Bhavinaben Patel created history on Sunday by winning India's first Paralympics medal in Table Tennis (TT)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated India paddler Bhavinaben Patel for her historic feat at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics in Japan. Making her debut at the Paralympic Games, Bhavinaben ran through the competition to become the first Indian table tennis player to win the silver medal in the women's singles class 4 event.
She missed out on a gold medal after losing to world no. 1 Zhou Ying from China in straight games.
In a tweet, PM Modi said that Bhavina's journey is motivating for youngsters in the country.
"The remarkable Bhavina Patel has scripted history! She brings home a historic Silver medal. Congratulations to her for it. Her life journey is motivating and will also draw more youngsters towards sports," the PM tweeted.
The Indian paddler had earlier reached the final by defeating world no. 3 China's Miao Zhang 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8 on Saturday,
Bhavinaben had entered the semifinals with a stunning straight-game win over world number two and defending champion Borislava Peric Rankovic of Serbia in the women's singles Class 4 event.
The 34-year-old, who was diagnosed with polio when she was 12, beat her Serbian opponent 11-5 11-6 11-7 in a quarterfinal match that lasted 18 minutes.
(With agency inputs)
