President, PM lead country in congratulating Bhavina Patel for Paralympic silver
Patel on Sunday became only the second Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics
New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the country in congratulating paddler Bhavinaben Patel for winning a historic silver medal, India's first, in the ongoing Paralympic Games in Tokyo on Sunday.
A strong performance from @Bhavina59068010 and although she couldn't win the Gold, it is a moment to be proud as India win their first medal in table tennis at the @Paralympics.#Paralympics #Tokyo2020 #TokyoParalympics #IND #TableTennis https://t.co/T0P2LP8JLT
— DC Sports (@_DCSports) August 29, 2021
Patel on Sunday became only the second Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics after she signed off with a historic silver following a 0-3 loss to world number one Chinese paddler Ying Zhou in the women's singles table tennis class 4 final.
President Kovind called Bhavina an inspiration while Prime Minister Modi said Patel's feat is a motivation for youngsters.
Bhavina Patel inspires the Indian contingent and sportslovers winning silver at #Paralympics. Your extraordinary determination and skills have brought glory to India. My congratulations to you on this exceptional achievement.
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) August 29, 2021
The remarkable Bhavina Patel has scripted history! She brings home a historic Silver medal. Congratulations to her for it. Her life journey is motivating and will also draw more youngsters towards sports. #Paralympics
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 29, 2021
The 34-year-old Patel's impressive run at the Games ended with a fighting 7-11 5-11 6-11 loss to Zhou, a two-time gold medallist, in the women's singles summit clash which lasted 19 minutes.
With this medal, Indian team opened its account at the Games.
Patel hails from Sundhiya village in Vadnagar, Mehsana in Gujarat and Modi told her that he's been to Sundhiya often and enquired if her family is still there.
Bhavina told him that her Parents are still there.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also took to the social networking site to wish Patel on her success.
Congratulations #BhavinaPatel on winning the Silver medal in #ParaTableTennis.
Your perseverance and success shall shall as motivation for many.#TokyoParalympics— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) August 29, 2021
Congratulations to Bhavina Patel for winning the #Silver . India applauds your achievement. You’ve done the nation proud. #TokyoParalympics pic.twitter.com/WcsI64JEFu
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 29, 2021
India's first individual gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra also saluted Patel's "mental resilence".
Fantastic performance by @BhavinaPatel6 to bag a silver and open India's account in the #Tokyo2020 @Paralympics. Wonderful show of skill and mental resilience. Extremely proud! #Praise4Para
— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) August 29, 2021
Deepa Malik, who is the current president of Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), was the first Indian woman to win a medal in the Paralympic Games when she had claimed a silver in shotput at Rio five years back.
Congratulating Patel for her medal, Malik said:
Our Silver Smiles And here's the SILVER... Passing on the baton to a woman athlete on a wheelchair #BhavinaPatel !! Exceptionally proud moment! India wins its first medal at #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics , proudly presenting our #silvergirl pic.twitter.com/iAbNQIQyXJ
— Deepa Malik (@DeepaAthlete) August 29, 2021
Congratulations #BhavinaPatel so amazing to win a medal at @Tokyo2020 on #NationalSportsDay . Perfect day to bring home the metal... A gift for entire nation . #praise4para @PTI_News @ianuragthakur @KirenRijiju @NisithPramanik @IndiaSports @Media_SAI pic.twitter.com/2iMoO6Egow
— Deepa Malik (@DeepaAthlete) August 29, 2021
Former cricketers Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble also congratulated the wheelerchair paddler for her historic medal.
Congratulations to #BhavinaPatel for creating history by winning India's first silver medal in women's singles class 4 table tennis event at the ongoing #TokyoParalympics .
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) August 29, 2021
A wonderful display of focus , hardwork and mental strength. pic.twitter.com/Ijh9LmfBTo
Silver medal for India.
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) August 29, 2021
Many Congratulations to #BhavinaPatel who has created history by becoming the first Indian para-paddler to win a medal in #Paralympics history.🇮🇳ðŸ“. pic.twitter.com/dyc3Cw3gEh
Congratulations #BhavinaPatel Proud of you. ðŸ‘ðŸ‘
— Anil Kumble (@anilkumble1074) August 29, 2021