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TTFI News 12th-May-2023
Bhavina settles for bronze in Slovenia

New Delhi, May 12: The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Bhavina Patel went down 1-3 to Zhou Ying of China, also the winner of multiple golds at the Paralympics in the semi-final of the ITTF Slovenia Para Open 2023.

 

Bhavina, the gold medallist at the Birmingham CWG, thus ensured a bronze for her to swell her medal kitty.

 

The 34-year-old Chinese, who was also her opponent at the Tokyo Games and the eventual gold winner, beat the Indian 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7. The most experienced and one of the top-most para paddlers in the world.

 

The five-time world champion was caught on the wrong foot in the first game which the Indian won rather easily. However, the Chinese picked up momentum in the second to restore parity. After that, it was the Chinese all the way as she dominated the sem-finals against Bhavina in Class 4.

 

Earlier, Bhavina won her group matches comfortably, beginning with a win over South Korean Min Hyeon An (8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-5) and Slobodanka Guresic of Montenegro (11-2, 11-3, 11-4) before losing to Gu Xiaodan, also from China, (9-11, 12-10, 9-11, 7-11). Nevertheless, the loss in the group match did not make any difference to her making it to the medal rounds.