Tokyo Paralympics 2020 Day 1 Preview: Full schedule and where to watch
Kicking off for India are the table tennis duo of Sonalben Patel and Bhavina Patel
Tokyo: India begins their Tokyo Paralympics 2020 campaign on August 25 as the country’s biggest contingent ever of 54 athletes compete to overcome their tally of 12 medals from Rio 2016.
Kicking off for India are the table tennis duo of Sonalben Patel and Bhavina Patel. The pair have been teammates for a long time and will open their campaigns in their individual categories in the women's singles event of the quadrennial table tennis tournament on Wednesday.
READ HERE: India should pay heed to their Paralympians: Here's why
Day 1, August 25: Match timings and live telecast details:
Table Tennis:
Fixture: Sonalben Patel vs Li Qian
Category: Class 3 (Wheelchair) Women's singles
Time: 7.30 AM IST
Broadcast: Live telecast on Eurosport India, Discovery Plus app and Doordarshan
Ranked 19 in the world, Sonalben Patel will open her campaign in Class 3 with a round-robin match against China's star paddler Li Qian. Qian will pose a strong challenge for the 33-year-old, having won one gold and one silver medal in singles events in two Paralympic Games (2008 and 2016).
She missed out on winning gold in the singles category in 2016, and the third-ranked paddlers will use that loss to motivate her to do well in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sonalben Patel won a silver medal at the 2018 Asian Para Games, and the paddler will need to be at her possible best to stand a fighting chance against Qian.
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Fixture: Bhavina Patel vs Zhou Ying
Category: Class 4 (Wheelchair) Women's singles
Time: 8:50 AM IST
Broadcast: Live telecast on Eurosport India, Discovery Plus app and Doordarshan
Bhavina Patel, who will compete in Class 4, was the first table tennis player from India to qualify for the Paralympics when she represented the country at Rio in 2016. Unfortunately, the 34-year-old could not participate because her paperwork did not come through in time. Five years later, she has a chance to prove herself.
An Asian Para Games silver medalist herself, she is ranked eighth in the world in her category. Bhavina will open her campaign against a former Paralympic champion in Zhou Ying.
Zhou is currently ranked No. 1 in the world and Bhavina Patel will need to be at her best to beat her opponent. Her opponent won the gold medal in Class 4 in 2008 and 2012, and although Zhou finished fifth in Rio 2016, she has done well to bounce back in the last few years.