Indian paddler Bhavinaben Patel progressed to the Round of 16 in the women’s singles Class 4 table tennis event with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Great Britain’s Megan Shackleton at the Tokyo Paralympics here on Thursday.
The 34-year-old Indian dispatched world No 9 Shackleton 11-7, 9-11, 17-15, 13-11 in a contest that lasted 41 minutes.
The other Indian in the fray, Sonalben Manubhai Patel, however, ended her campaign after losing 12-10, 5-11, 3-11, 9-11 to MG Lee of Korea in her second women’s singles Class 3 group match.
Players in the Class 3 category have no trunk control, yet their arms are minimally affected by the impairment.
In Class 4 category athletes have fair sitting balance and fully functional arms and hands. Their impairment may be due to a lower spinal-cord lesion or cerebral palsy.