Paralympic silver medallist Bhavina Patel to get Rs 3 crore reward by Gujarat government

Bhavina became the first medal winner for India in the Tokyo Paralympics. She is also the first table tennis player ever to win a medal at the Paralympics for India and the second female athlete after PCI chief Deepa Malik to achieve the feat

The Gujarat government on Sunday announced a Rs 3 crore reward for paddler Bhavina Patel for her historic silver medal win at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Patel, who hails from Sundhiya village in Gujarat''s Mehsana district, on Sunday went down 0-3 to world number one Chinese paddler Ying Zhou to win the silver medal in her maiden Paralympic Games.

"Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has congratulated Bhavina Patel, daughter of Mehsana district of Gujarat, for making the country proud by her outstanding achievements in table tennis at the Paralympic Games," the Chief Minister's Office said in a note.

It said the CM has announced an award of Rs 3 crore as an incentive to Patel under the state government's 'Divyang Khel Pratibha Protsahan Puraskar Yojana' for making Gujarat and India proud at the global level with her sports skills.

Patel, who was diagnosed with polio when she was 12-month-old, had defeated world no 3 Miao Zhang of China 7-11 11-7 11-4 9-11 11-8 in the semi-final showdown on Saturday. However, she lost the gold medal match to China's Zhou Ying 3-0 in the women's singles on Sunday. World number one Zhou Ying overwhelmed Bhavina Patel in straight sets by 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-6) in just 19 minutes.

Meanwhile, Bhavina became the first medal winner for India in this edition of the Games. She is also the first table tennis player ever to win a medal at the Paralympics for India and the second female athlete after PCI chief Deepa Malik to achieve the feat. Malik had won silver at Rio 2016 in women's shot put.