Bhavina Patel, India’s top para table tennis player and Tokyo Paralympics medalist, advanced to the semifinals of the women’s singles category after defeating Fiji’s Akanisi Latu in her third match of the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Thursday.

Bhavina Hasmukhbhai Patel is from Mehsana, Gujarat. She was born on November 6, 1986. Her parents own a cutlery store. She received her primary education at a school in Suvidha Village.

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Patel was not born with physical disabilities. Her parents found out she had poliomyelitis when she was 12 months old.

Patel has several medals from national and international competitions. She rose to World No. 2 after winning silver for India in the individual category at the 2011 PTT Thailand Open. Patel won silver in the women’s singles Class 4 at the Asian Para Table Tennis Championships in Beijing in October 2013.

She took bronze in the International Table Tennis Federation Asian Para Table Tennis Championship in 2017.

Bhavina earned a spot on the Paralympic podium after defeating Borislava Peric Rankobic in straight games. She is India’s first table tennis player to qualify for this tournament. Bhavina defeated three players in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. Those players had a higher rank than she did.

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She competed in her first Paralympic Games and finished 12th in the world. Bhavina’s first competition at the Tokyo Paralympics was against Zhou Ying. With a score of 0-3, she failed to secure the latch. But, after overcoming defeat, she returned even stronger and took the lead in the match. Later, she competed against three other players to advance to the pre-quarterfinals. In the women’s singles, she beat veteran Borislava Peric of Serbia in 18 minutes.

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She reached the semi-finals of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics after defeating Borislava Rankovic and won the silver medal after defeating Zhou Ying. Lalan Doshi coaches her and team official Tejalben Lakhia guides her. Patel is also employed by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) in Ahmedabad, India.