India women's table tennis team loses to China in quarters

The Indian women's table tennis team including Bhavina Patel was outclassed 0-2 by China in the Class 4-5 quarterfinal at the Paralympic Games here on Tuesday.

Bhavina, who had won a historic silver in the singles event on Sunday, lost 0-3 (4-11 7-11 6-11) to Ying Zhou for the third time in the competition. The Chinese had also beaten her in the singles final.

In the doubles content, Sonal Patel and Bhavina were no match for the Chinese duo comprising Ying and Zhang Bian, losing in straight games. The Indian pairing was defeated 2-11 4-11 2-11 in the showdown that lasted just 13 minutes.

In the class 4 category competitors have fair sitting balance and fully functional arms and hands. Their impairment may be due to a lower spinal-cord lesion or cerebral palsy.

While the class 5 category includes athletes who compete in a wheelchair but who have a normal sitting balance, arm and hand function. The athletes have the most physical functionality of those in a wheelchair.