Paralympics: Paddler Bhavina enters class 4 quarter-finals

India's Bhavina Patel, the silver medallist in the Tokyo edition, entered the quarter-finals of the women's singles class 4 table tennis event at the Paralympics with a 3-0 win over Mexico's Martha Verdin in Paris on Sunday.

Bhavina blanked Martha 11-3, 11-6, 11-7 in a round of 16 contest. The 37-year-old athlete from Gujarat will now face defending champion Ying Zhou of China in the quarter-finals.

The Chinese had beaten Bhavina in the final of the Tokyo Paralympics.

The Class 4 athletes compete sitting on a wheelchair with functional arms and hands. Their impairment could be due to a lower-spinal cord lesion or cerebral palsy.

Bhavina was diagnosed with polio at a young age. Her journey in the world of para table tennis started when she won the nationals in 2009.

She did not look back from thereon.

Bhavina is a gold medallist in the 2022 Para Commonwealth Games and a bronze medallist at the 2022 Para Asian Games.