Deepa Malik, who won the silver medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, said she is happy to see Bhavinaben Patel carry forward her legacy of winning a medal at the Games.
India's para table tennis player Patel claimed the silver medal on Sunday to became only the second Indian woman to win a medal in the Paralympic Games.
Malik, who is the current president of Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), was the first Indian woman to win a medal in the Paralympic Games when she had claimed a silver in shotput at Rio five years back.
"I am very happy that a woman is carrying forward the legacy of winning a medal in the Paralympics and that too a wheelchair para-athlete in a new game. No one would have ever thought in India that we will perform well in table tennis. That we will beat players from China or Korea," she said.
Patel went down to World No 1 Zhou Ying in straight sets by 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 in just 19 minutes in the final to become the first medal winner for India at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics.
The PCI chief lauded the calmness shown by Patel during her matches in the ongoing Tokyo Paralympic Games.
"She played with maturity as she implemented all her learnings in the match. She was very calm during the game. I am very happy as today is National Sports Day and a woman has opened India's tally in Paralympics," said Malik.
"Now there are two women who have won medals in wheelchair events. I'm very happy that Bhavina has taken forward my legacy," she added.
Malik is hoping for more medals from the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Games.
"We can hope for medals in the coming days. There are games in the evening too, our athletics team which is the powerhouse of our contingent will be competing in the events soon," she said.
"We don't want them to be under some pressure, we only want that they give their best. I have high hopes that today we can again get a medal," she added.
