2021 Paralympics: Indian paddler Bhavina Patel stuns reigning world champion Borislava Peric-Rankovic to advance in to the semifinals

Indian paddler Bhavina Patel stunned World No. 2 and reigning champion Borislava Peric-Rankovic of Serbia at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics. She beat her Serbian opponent in straight games in the women's singles class 4 quarterfinals match. Bhavina crushed the reigning champion 3-0 (11-5, 11-6,11-7) on Friday and has advanced to the semifinals of the 2021 Paralympics.

Paddler Bhavina Patel has created history by becoming the first Indian table tennis player to reach the semifinals of the at the Paralympic Games.

Bhavina was dominant from the word go. Bhavina took the first game 11-5 from -Peric-Rankovic. Bhavina continued to excel throughout the second game and won the set by a margin of 11-6. The third game was a cake walk for Bhavina, who left no room for Rankovic to assess and improve. The Indian paddler won the match convincingly with four match points.

After losing her first group match against World No. 1, Zhou Ying, Bhavina has defeated three excellent players in successive matches to reach the semifinals.

She will be in action next against the women's singles class 4 match on Saturday. Her opponent is yet to be decided.

Bhavina Patel has qualified for the semis 😍After losing her 1st group match against World No. 1, Zhou Ying, she has defeated World No. 8th, 9th and then 2nd ranked Borislava Rankovic of #SRB in the quarterfinals to book a spot in the semis 👏#Paralympics #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/tAk8Rwwp7r

— Sportskeeda India (@Sportskeeda) August 27, 2021

Bhavina Patel's road to semifinals:

Indian paddler Bhavina Patel defeated Joyce de Oliveira of Brazil in Tokyo. Bhavina won 3-0 in the women's singles class 4 pre-final match on Friday displaying an outstanding brand of table tennis. She exhibited dominant gameplay to defeat World No. 8 Joyce de Oliveira of Brazil in straight games, 12-10, 13-11, 11-6.

#BhavinaPatel #IND is through to the quarter finals in Class 4 #TableTennis ! She beat WR 8 Joyce De Oliveira #BRA 3-0 in R16! FYI, Bhavina uses the long pimples rubber on her Backhand. It helps her contact the ball early, push it faster & at deeper angles!#Paralympics pic.twitter.com/gP58PK4yRl

— Neha Aggarwal Sharma OLY (@nehaaggarwal) August 27, 2021

Bhavina Patel clinched a thrilling victory against Megan Shackleton of Great Britain in her women’s singles class 4 Group A match. Bhavina won 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 17-15, 13-11) against the Brit on Thursday.

Bhavina had a jittery start to the 2021 Paralympic campaign but never looked back after that. In the opening game, Bhavina suffered a straight sets defeat to Chinese paddler Zhou Ying in straight sets in her opening match of the Paralympics on Wednesday. She went down to Ying in straight sets 3-11, 9-11, 2-11 in the first round of the Group A match.

Sonalben Patel bowed out in the first round:

Indian Para table tennis player Sonalben Patel went down fighting against South Korea's Lee Mi-gyu 1-3 in her second Tokyo Paralympic Group D match on Thursday. She bowed out after suffering two consecutive defeats in the 2021 Paralympics.