Indian paddler Sonalben Manubhai Patel suffered a close 3-2 defeat against China's Qian Li in her opening Group D match in the women's singles - class 3 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo on Wednesday.
World No 4 Qian Li defeated Sonalben in five sets by 3-2 (9-11, 11-3, 15-17, 11-7, 11-4) in 36 minutes. Sonalben Manubhai Patel will next face South Korea's Mi Gyu Lee on Thursday in her second Group D match.
The Indian started the match on the front foot as she took the first game 11-9. Li then came back strongly as she dominated and won the second set by 11-3 in just five minutes. The third set was a marathon as Patel held her nerves against the Rio 2016 silver medallist to edge ahead 17-15.
The Chinese again shifted the momentum as she forced the decider by winning the fourth game by 11-7. Qian gave no respite to Sonalben in the fifth set too, as she clinched the game by 11-4.
In a later match, her compatriot, Bhavinaben Hasmukhbhai Patel lost 3-0 to world number one Chinese paddler Zhou Ying in the women's singles class 4 Group A match.
Bhavinaben went down tamely 3-11, 9-11, 2-11.
Players in the Class 3 category have no trunk control, yet their arms are minimally affected by the impairment, while in class 4 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.
