Indian para table tennis player and Paralympic silver medalist Bhavina Patel has secured the third rank in the Women's Singles Class 4 category in the updated world rankings.
A total of 13 slots are available in Class 4 for the Paris Paralympics 2024 and Bhavina has secured her spot as per her World Ranking Allocation in the singles category.
Notably, Bhavina improved her rating points from 1264 to 1312 in the latest released rankings. She took to Instagram to express her happiness after her surge in the updated world rankings.
“Delighted that through all my hard work I am now ranked 3rd in the World in the Women’s Singles Class 4 Category," she wrote.
Bhavina’s recent medal history
Most recently, Bhavina clinched one medal each in women's singles and doubles categories at the UTT Para Table Tennis National Championships 2023-24 that concluded on March 22 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
Earlier in the same month, she clinched a silver medal in women's singles at the Fa20 competition in Italy after losing to the World No. 1 player in the grand finale. A few days later, she bagged a gold and a bronze medal at the Spanish Open.
In the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, Bhavina made it to the semi-finals after defeating Borislava Rankovic and clinched the silver medal after losing to China’s Zhou Ying in the gold medal match.
She also created history at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 after becoming the first-ever Indian to win the gold medal in Para Table Tennis.
It's important to note that a total of 280 quotas will be available for table tennis - 166 male and 114 female - in the upcoming Paralympics. As per the April ITTF Para Table Tennis Rankings, 109 athletes have secured their quota for the much-awaited Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
With the World Qualification Tournament, scheduled in May 2024 and Bipartite Commission Invitation Allocation in April and May 2024, a few more slots are available to be secured for the Paralympics.
The Para table tennis events at Paris 2024 will take place from August 29 to September 8 at the South Paris Arena 4.