GANDHIDHAM, March 31: Gujarat’s para table tennis star Sonal Patel marched into the final of women’s singles classes 2-3 on the second day of the ITTF Fa40 Egypt Para Open 2022 in Ismailia on Thursday.
In the semis, a dominant Sonal blanked a dominant Ali Malak of Kuwait 11-5, 11-4, 11-2 to set up a final clash with Iraq’s Hadeel Al Waeli.
It was a dominant performance from world no. 21, in the women class 3 category, as she topped Group 1 with Al Waeli (11-4, 11-6, 11-6) and Egypt’s Hala Azzam (11-1, 11-2, 11-0).
Meanwhile, Olympic silver medallist Bhavina Patel was also in contention as she reached the semis in the women’s singles classes 4-5 after a bye in the quarters.
The World No.8, in the women class 4 category, looked in sublime form as she topped Group 1 with dominant wins.
Bhavina beat Wafaa Mohammed Younis of Egypt 11-9, 11-2, 11-5 in the opening match before registering an 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 win over another local player Karaally Sabah in the second match.
Despite the high, there were some heartbreaking moments for others as Usha Rathod, Ramesh Chaudhary and Jashavant Chaudhary failed to make it to the knockout round.
In the women’s singles classes 4-5 group 2, Usha lost both her group matches. Usha first suffered a 5-11, 8-11, 7-11 loss against Egypt’s Faiza Mahmoud. She then endured a 4-11, 4-11, 4-11 loss against world no. 37 Rusul Al Waeli of Iraq.
In the men’s singles class 4 group 2, Ramesh first suffered a 5-11, 2-11, 6-11 loss against world no. 19 Boris Travnicek of Slovakia. Ramesh was then beaten by Egypt’s Raafat Toghian 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 before suffering a 2-11, 3-11, 5-11 loss against world no. 45 Muntadher Al Saaraji of Iraq.
Jashavant endured a similar scenario in the men’s singles class 4 group 3, where he first suffered an 8-11, 7-11, 8-11 loss against countrymate and world no. 56 Trivendra Singh.
Jashavant then put up a good fight before going down 11-13, 12-10, 9-11, 7-11 against Mohamed Ragab of Egypt before suffering a 6-11, 6-11, 4-11 loss against world no. 24 Emeric Martin of France in the final group match.
Written by : Pranjal Protim Boruah