TOKYO: Indian paddlers Bhavinaben Patel and Sonalben Manubhai Patel began their campaigns with opening-round defeats in their respective events at the Tokyo Paralympics, here on Wednesday.
Competing in the women's Class 3 category, Sonalben was ahead after the first three games but lost momentum to lose 11-9, 3-11, 17-15, 7-11, 4-11 against world No. 4 and Rio Paralympics silver medallist Li Quan of China in a tightly-contested match.
On the other hand, Bhavinaben, who was up against world No. 1 Chinese paddler Zhou Ying, also went down tamely 3-11, 9-11, 2-11 in the women's singles Class 4 group A fixture.
Players in the Class 3 category have no trunk control, yet their arms are minimally affected by the impairment, while in class 4 competitors have fair sitting balance and fully functional arms and hands.
Their impairment may be due to a lower spinal-cord lesion or cerebral palsy.
