Bhavinaben Patel continued with her brilliant showing as she became the first Indian to enter the final of a table tennis event in the Paralympics with a hard-fought 3-2 win over China’s Miao Zhang in a class 4 semi-final here on Saturday.

The 34-year-old Patel, who had surprised even the Indian camp in this Paralympics with her sensational performance, stunned her world No. 3 Chinese opponent 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8 in the semi-final showdown that lasted 34 minutes. She will take on world No.1 Chinese paddler Ying Zhou in the summit clash on Sunday.

Daughter of Hasmukhbhai Patel, a small-time shopkeeper at Sundhiya village in Gujarat’s Mehsana district, she was not considered a bright medal prospect coming into the Games but she has made her maiden Paralympics a memorable one.

“When I came here, I just thought that I would give my 100 per cent without thinking of anything. If you give 100 per cent, the medal will come, that was what I thought,” said Patel, who was diagnosed with polio when she was 12 months old. “If I continue with this confidence with the blessings of the people of my country, I think I will win gold tomorrow. I am ready for the final and I have to give 100 per cent in the final also.”

Patel, who plays in a wheelchair, lost the opening game in a tight contest. But, she made a strong recovery, claiming the next two games to take a 2-1 lead. Patel was in great touch as she needed only four minutes to wrap up the third game. In the fourth game, Zhang showed her class not giving Patel the bragging rights just yet as the match headed into the decider.

“...I don’t consider myself as disabled, I am always confident I can do anything and today I also proved that we are not behind and para table tennis is as ahead as other sports,” said Patel. “I fought against China and it is always said that it is difficult to win against China. Today I proved that nothing is impossible, you can do everything...”

This was Patel’s first victory against the former world No.1 Zhang.

Patel said focusing on mental aspect of the game helped her during the match.

“My schedule used to start at 4am and I used to focus more on my mind… through meditation and yoga I learnt to keep myself calm,” she said.

Elsewhere, Rakesh Kumar continued his impressive run to storm into the pre-quarter finals while his teammate Shyam Sundar Swami made a second round exit as Indian archers had a mixed day.