India paddler Bhavina Patel settled for a bronze medal
after suffering a defeat in the women’s singles – Class 4 semifinals in the
ongoing 4th Asian Para Games on Wednesday.
China’s Xiaodan Gu proved to be a major threat to the
Indian paddler in the first game. Xiaodan running high on intensity clinched an
11-7 victory, but Bhavina bounced back in the following game to bring the match
to parity with an 11-6 victory.
Xiaodan switched gears in the next two games making
Bhavina struggle for each point. In the third game, the Chinese paddler swept
the third game 11-6 and went on to win the fourth game to seal her place in the
final by 11-7.
Earlier in the day, Sumit Antil and Pushpendra Singh
dominated the podium standings by clinching gold and bronze medals respectively
in the men’s Javelin Throw-F64 final.
Sumit broke the Asian Para Games record, World record
and Asian record in the event with a throw of 73.29m. He reached the mark in
his third attempt of the day and clinched a gold medal.
Sri Lanka’s Arachchige Samitha bagged the silver medal
with an attempt of 62.42m while Pushpendra Singh settled for silver with a
throw of 62.06m.
Following the defeat, Bhavina walked away with a
bronze medal and added to India’s constantly rising medal tally.
This time, India has sent 303 athletes – 191 men and
112 women – to the fourth edition of the Asian Para Games which is the largest
contingent to the continental event.
At the 2018 Asian Para Games, India sent a total of
190 athletes and returned with 72 medals, including 15 gold, for their best
performance at the quadrennial event.
ANI
