Para table tennis star Bhavina Patel surprised many when she clinched the silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics. The 35-year-old is currently aiming to replicate her success at the Commonwealth Games 2022 and script history as this is the first time the CWG has included Para table tennis to the list events.

Patel, who won the silver medal in Class 4 Para category at the Tokyo Paralympics, was also India’s first medallist at the quadrennial event. Expectations are high on her shoulders, and the athlete also admitted to being nervous ahead of the CWG 2022.A

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“Everyone is having expectations from me post the Tokyo success. It was getting a little nervy for me until I spoke with my husband Nikul Patel about it,” she revealed  during a press conference organised by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Friday. 

“He told me that we are going to give our best, no matter what. We are not fighting for medals here. That’s for the later part. But first, we have to put full focus on giving our best,” Patel added.

The Para athlete also said that she feels hard work is necessary for anything done out of passion and one should not feel pressure after it.

“I believe that when you do anything passionately, you have to do hard work. Consistency can give you the results as well as giving 100% in training. Everything is possible. You shouldn’t feel pressure,” the Indian ace said.

Bhavina Patel has been a recipient of support from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports through the Target Olympic Podium Scheme and she detailed the government aid on Friday.

“The Sports Authority also gave me a robot (Butterfly – Amicus Prime), which has helped with my chop shots and it is helping me get a lot of variation in my game. It is helping my training a lot,” she said. 

“All in all, I’m getting a lot of support system from every quarter, from the Government, SAI, Paralympic Committee of India, the Table Tennis Federation of India as well as the NGOs supporting me,” she added.

The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics were hugely successful campaigns for India. Following the success, India took a more active stance in sporting policies, specially in Para sports. Speaking about the same, Bhavina mentioned that the infrastructure development and awareness has been a big help for everyone associated with Para sports.

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“Post Tokyo, I’ve seen huge changes in Paralympics policy by the Government. All schemes are similar now for all sports. There has been an infrastructural development as well as academies being created. There is a greater awareness now,” she revealed. 

“I am personally grateful to be inspirational to some. My training centre in Gujarat gets lot of calls every day from enthusiasts who say that they want to be like Bhavina.  They think if Bhavina can do it, we all can. It’s a big thing for me to be inspirational for some and I want to inspire more. I want more athletes to come to the fore. I want India to be first everywhere. I don’t want to walk alone with success. I want to take everyone with me,” She concluded.