Bhavina, Sonalben win bronze in Asian Para Games TT

NAGOYA: India's Bhavina Patel and Sonal Patel secured bronze medals after losing their respective women's singles table tennis semifinals at the Asian Para Games here on Tuesday.

Bhavina lost her Class 4-5 semifinal to China's eight-time Paralympic champion Zhang Bian 0-3, while Sonalben too went down in straight games to three-time Paralympic medallist South Korea's Jiyu Yoon in the Class 3 semifinals.

Bhavina, a former Paralympic silver-medallist, went down 7-11, 5-11, 7-11 to end with a second successive bronze at the mega-event.

She had won a silver in the 2018 edition of the Games. The 40-year-old Bian was a silver medallist at the previous Asian Para Games.

The 39-year-old Indian veteran from Gujarat is also a former Commonwealth Games gold-winner.

Class 4-5 classification is for athletes who have full upper body control but are on a wheelchair due to leg or lower-limb impairments.

Sonalben, who won the doubles silver at the Jakarta edition of the Games in 2018, was defeated 7-11 5-11 6-11 by defending champion Yoon.

Class 3 is a wheelchair category for athletes with poor sitting balance and limited trunk control, but normal or near-normal arm and hand function.