India at Paralympics 2021: Day 1 results and medal tally after 25th August

After the grand opening ceremony at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, action has now moved to the stadiums. Team India had two events scheduled for Day 1 (25th August).

The day started with the heroics of Sonalben Madhubhai Patel, who took on World #4 Li Qian of China in a round-robin match in Group D. The fight was always going to be difficult as Sonalben was up against the 2008 Beijing Paralympics gold medalist, who also won the World Championships thrice.

Next up was Bhavina Patel, who went down to Rio Paralympic bronze medalist Zhou Ying in the women's singles table tennis group-stage match.

Check Out the Tokyo Paralympics Medal Table

How did India fare overall on Day 1 at the Tokyo Paralympics?

The Indian contingent had a total of two events scheduled for the day, spanning Women's Individual C3 (Group D) and Women's Individual C4 (Group A).

Here's a look at how the Indian athletes performed:

Sonalben Madhubhai Patel goes down fighting against China's Li Qian

India's 33-year-old Sonalben Madhubhai Patel put up a gritty effort but it wasn't enough to overcome Li Qian.

While Sonalben took the first game, Li Qian came back strongly to level scores. Sonalben then put up a splendid fight to win the third game and lead 2-1. However, the Indian seemed to lose her touch after that and lost the next two games to go down 2-3 to her opponent.

Despite the result, she remains alive in the contest and will play her last round-robin match tomorrow. A win would be enough to see her sail through to the knockout stages.

#Paratabletennis UpdateAfter a thrilling match 🇮🇳's Sonal Patel loses against 🇨🇳's Q Li 2-3 in the first group stage match Sonal will play her next group match tomorrowLet us support her with #Cheer4India messages #Praise4Para #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/U57cqH796G
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) August 25, 2021

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Bhavina Patel goes down to two-time Paralympic champion

India's Bhavina Patel, meanwhile, succumbed to a 0-3 defeat to two-time Paralympic champion Zhou Ying. The Chinese dominated the game completely, not allowing Bhavina Patel any chance to settle into the match.

The Indian, however, still remains alive at the Tokyo Paralympics and will hope to bounce back to make the knockout stages of the competition.

Bhavina Patel has lost her first game against Zhou Ying of #CHN in Table Tennis - Women's Singles C4 - Group A Match#Tokyo2020 #TableTennis #Paralympics #Praise4Para pic.twitter.com/u4ChJ3loLg
— Sportskeeda India (@Sportskeeda) August 25, 2021

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India Paralympics 2021: Medal Tally and Standings after Day 1, 25th August

At the end of Day 1, Australia leads the medal tally with 10 medals, including six gold. Closely following Australia are China and RPC.

India is yet to open its medal account at the Tokyo Paralympics, but we can certainly expect a bag full of medals in the coming few days from the talented contingent.