Chinese players are not invincible, says para table tennis star Bhavina Patel

NEW DELHI: Bhavina Patel, who secured a silver medal in table tennis at the Tokyo Paralympics, is resolute in her mission to outperform her Chinese rivals at the upcoming Paris Paralympics, commencing on August 28. She firmly believes that the Chinese players are not unbeatable.
As the pioneering Indian paddler to secure a medal in the Class 4 event at Tokyo, Bhavina expressed her determination to challenge the Chinese supremacy in table tennis, asserting that they are "humans" too, as she embarked on her journey to this year's Paralympic Games.
Bhavina told PTI Videos on Sunday, "Chinese players are humans and so are we. China does not matter to me, even during the Tokyo edition I had beaten a Chinese player so there's no pressure on me to face them."

"I have changed my tactics according to them so I will deploy my best plans against them on the day," she said.
The table tennis player from Mehsana, Gujarat, and a Commonwealth Games Champion as well as an Asian Games medallist, expressed that her sole focus is on giving her best performance.
"There is no nervousness. I just have to give my best. I believe that when we think about giving our best, nothing else comes to mind," she said.
Her doubles partner Sonalben Patel said, "Bhavina and I have put in a double amount of effort in our training as partners and we will try our utmost to return home with a medal."
Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist in the men's singles badminton SH6 event, Krishna Nagar, stated that he aims to replicate his winning performance.
"I hope that everything will be fine in Paris and I will try to win gold for India again. I will give it my all to defend my gold from Tokyo. Preparations went well, I feel positive and will look to play safe," he said.
Shot putter Sachin Khilari, making his debut appearance at the Para Games, expressed that he expects nothing less than a gold medal from himself.
"There is a lot of excitement in me, my preparations were going on for 1.5 years for the Paralympics, I performed well at the World Championship and I expect a gold medal out of myself because I have worked hard to earn it," he said.
On how he is going to handle the pressure of competing against the best athletes in the world, Khilari quipped, "The pressure is on them to compete against me as I consider myself to be the best."
Debutant Sakshi Kasana, a discus throw athlete said, "I have worked tirelessly hard for this moment to come true as representing your nation at the Paralympics is the biggest thing for any athlete so I hope my four years of hard work pays off."
PCI President and legendary para javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia confidently stated that India will rank among the top nations at the Para Games.
"I have 20 years of experience in para sports. I have taken 3 medals. I know each player and their performances individually. The kind of support that we got from PM Modi, 50 players from the TOPS scheme are going," he said.
"Many players got help under CSR activity. We will be winning more than 25 medals. India will be in the top 20 in the medal tally."
He is also confident of seeing Sumit Antil defending his gold medal and hoisting the national flag.
"Sumit will definitely defend his gold medal Sumit is fit and is not under any kind of injury and has a high level of confidence in himself, the national anthem will definitely be played and Sumit will gold," Jhajharia said.
India have sent an 84-member team - the largest ever for Paralympics - to be held from August 28 to September 8 in Paris.