Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist Bhavina Patel made a winning start to her Asian Para Games campaign, defeating Kuwait's Ahad Alrasheedi in her opening match in the women's para table tennis competition on Friday. Bhavina beat her Kuwaiti opponent 3-0 (11-6 11-3 11-6) in the women's singles Class 4-5 Group A match.
Class 4 and Class 5 in para table tennis represent the higher-functioning tiers among wheelchair athletes (Classes 1-5), where players have varying degrees of sitting balance and core or arm control.
Baby Sahana Ravi also defeated Vietnam's Thi Hoa Phuong Nguyen 3-0 (11-6 11-5 11-4) in her women's singles Class 9 Group B match.
Class 9 in para table tennis is a standing sports class for athletes with mild physical impairments affecting their legs or playing arm, or severe impairments of their non-playing arm.
Shubham Wadhwa also won his opening men's singles Class 3 group match, defeating Nepal's Keshav Thapa 3-0 (11-6 11-4, 11-9). Class 3 in para table tennis is a wheelchair sport class for athletes who have no sitting balance, minimal trunk control and normal or near-normal arm and hand function.
Another Indian para-athlete, Jehan Madan, made a bright start, beating compatriot Sandeep Dangi 3-1 (11-8 12-10 10-12 11-6) in men's singles Class 1 group match.
Class 1 is the most severe sitting wheelchair class, designated for players who have no sitting balance and a severe reduction of function in their playing arm, typically due to a spinal-cord lesion or polio.