Sonalben Patel goes down by 2-3 to China’s Li Q In Group D Opener

Indian para table tennis player Sonalben Manubhai Patel lost to China's Qian Li in her first Group D match on Wednesday. Sonal entered into the Table Tennis Competition at the games where he had to face the loss against China’s table tennis player, Qian Li. The match was so close as the final score of the game was 3-2 with the Chinese table tennis player just winning the game. It is the debut Paralympics for the Indian paddler.

In a thriller, Sonal lost the match by 11-9, 3-11, 17-15, 7-11, 4-11. Sonal Patel almost gave a perfect start to India at the Tokyo Paralympics on Wednesday. She lost in the Group D opener match while playing in the Individual C3 event. The number 4 in the World ranking Qian Li has defeated the Indian debutant in five sets. The four-time gold medalist and one-time silver medalist, Qian Li has a commendable record in the Paralympic games.

The Indian started the match on the front foot as she took the first game 11-9. Li then came back very strongly as she dominated and won the second game by 11-3 in just five minutes. The third game was a marathon as Patel held her nerves against the Rio 2016 silver medalist to edge 17-15. The Chinese again shifted the momentum to her side as she forced the decider by winning the fourth game by 11-7. Qian gave no respite to Sonalben in the fifth game too, as she clinched it by 11-4.

Sonalben Patel still has a chance to record her first victory in her debut Paralympic games on Thursday as she will be against Lee Mi-gyu of South Korea in the group stage game.