TOKYO, Aug 29: Bhavinaben Patel clinched a historic silver in table tennis to give India its first medal in Paralympics before high jumper Nishad Kumar also came second but the celebrations of a Super Sunday were somewhat muted after discus thrower Vinod Kumar’s bronze-winning result was put on hold due to a protest over his disability classification.
Patel, who was diagnosed with polio when she was 12 months old, became only the second Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics after she signed off with a silver following a 0-3 loss to world number one Chinese paddler Ying Zhou in the women’s singles table tennis class 4 final.
Nishad then clinched a silver with an Asian record before discus thrower Vinod fetched a bronze which was put on hold after a protest over his disability classification as India began collecting what is expected to be an unprecedented haul of athletics medals in the Games.
It somewhat marred the upbeat mood in the Indian camp on the National Sports Day, which is the birth anniversary of hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand.
Vinod’s classification in F52, which is for athletes with impaired muscle power, restricted range of movement, limb deficiency or leg length difference, was done on August 22 by the organisers.
It was not clear on what grounds the classification has been challenged.
“Results of this event are currently under review due to classification observation in competition. The Victory Ceremony has been postponed to the evening session of 30th August,” read a statement from the Games organisers.
India’s Chef de Mission Gursharan Singh told PTI that Vinod’s medal stands for now till a decision on the matter by the technical officials likely to come on Monday.
But the day began brightly, with the 34-year-old Patel clinching a silver. She lost 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.
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.(PTI)
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