CWG 2022: Para TT players Sonalben Patel, Raj Alagar advance to semis
Aug 04, 2022
Birmingham [UK], August 4 : India's para table tennis star Sonalben Patel advanced to the semifinal of the women's singles category after defeating Nigeria's Chinenye Obiora at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Thursday.
In her women's singles class 3-5 singles match, she defeated Obiora by 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-5. Sonalben was not off to a good start as she lost a closely contested first game. But she bounced back to win the next three games one by one and sealed her spot in the semifinal.
Sonalben's campaign has been really amazing so far, having registered wins against England's Susan Fiona Bailey and Australia's Amanda Tscharke previously. She finished on top of Group 2.
On the other hand, men's para table tennis player Raj Aravindan Alagar also booked his ticket to semifinal after defeating England's Dan Bullen in his third match of the campaign.
Playing his men's singles class 3-5 match, Raj won it by 11-5, 11-2, 9-11, 11-2.
Raj was off to a good start, winning two games comfortably. However, he lost the third game, which was a close one. He won the final game to seal the match for himself.
Tokyo Paralympics medalist Bhavina Patel also reached the semifinal of the women's singles category after defeating Akanisi Latu of Fiji in her third match of the tournament at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Thursday.
In her women's singles class 3-5 match, she defeated Latu 11-1, 11-5, 11-1. Bhavina was dominance personified as she crushed her opponent in straight sets.
She has reached the semi-finals after winning her previous two matches against Daniela Di Toro of Australia and Ifechukwude Ikpeoyi of Nigeria. The semi-final match will take place on Friday. She has earned a top-place finish in Group 1.
On the other hand, Baby Sahana Ravi crashed out of the women's singles competition after losing to Yang Qian of Australia. Ravi was eliminated from the competition after losing by 4-11 each in three games in women's singles class 6-10 match
She had earlier lost to Nigeria's Faith Obazuaye and Gloria Gracia Wong Sze of Malaysia. She finished at the bottom of Group 1.
The Commonwealth Games started in Birmingham from July 28 and will go on till August 8.
