There is no bronze-medal play-off in Tokyo Paralympics table tennis, and both losing semi-finalists are guaranteed a bronze.
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Bhavinaben Patel on Friday, August 27 scripted history by becoming the first Indian table tennis player to secure a medal in the Tokyo Paralympics, setting the tone for an upbeat contingent aiming for its best-ever finish at the Games. Feeding off the momentum generated by India's best showing at the preceding Olympics, Patel, competing in her first Paralympics, ensured a podium for herself by entering the semifinals with a stunning straight-game win over world number five 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. "I could win my match today due to the support of the people of India. Please keep supporting me so that I can win my semifinal match," Patel said after the quarterfinal. The highlight of the day was Bhavina reaching the semifinals and grabbing a medal, the colour of which will be decided on Saturday. She takes on Zhang Miao of China in the semifinals. There is no bronze-medal play-off in Tokyo Paralympics table tennis, and both losing semi-finalists are guaranteed a bronze. In the day's other events, Indian powerlifter Sakina Khatun finished a creditable fifth in the women's 50kg category while compatriot Jaideep failed to log a single legal lift in the men's 65kg event. The 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Khatun had the best effort of 93kg. China's Dandan Hu took home the gold with a best effort of 120kg, while Rehab Ahmed of Egypt, who also lifted 120kg, and Great Britain's Olivia Broome (107kg) took the silver and bronze respectively. In archery, Indian compound archer Rakesh Kumar shot a career-best 699 points out of a possible 720 to grab the third place in the ranking round of the men's open section. In the men's recurve open category, 2019 Asian Para Championship winner Vivek Chikara finished in top-10. World No 22 Jyoti Baliyan, who is the only Indian female member to have qualified for the Paralympics, secured a 15th place ranking in the compound open event. Paralympic Committee of India president Deepa Malik about Bhavina’s victory in a video on Twitter. She said, "It is sure that we can see a medal from her. Tomorrow morning's match (semifinal) is a huge decider what colour of the medal she will win." In 2017, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board had approved the International Table Tennis Federation's request to remove the third-place play-off in all the medal events and award bronze to both the losing semi-finalists. Earlier in the day, she had beaten Joyce de Oliveira of Brazil 12-10 13-11, 11-6 in Round of 16 to become the first Indian table tennis player to reach the quarterfinals in the Paralympics. Athletes in Class 4 category have fair sitting balance and fully functional arms and hands. Their impairment may be due to a lower spinal-cord lesion or cerebral palsy.
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