The 34-year-old Bhavina Patel, who has been playing table tennis for the past 20 years, was diagnosed with polio when she was one year old. During her graduation days, Patel took up table tennis to maintain fitness. Gradually, it became her passion and she started to play table tennis professionally.

India’s Bhavina Patel has made history by becoming the first Indian table tennis player to reach the final in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo after a big win over world No.3 Zhang Miao of China in the women's singles on Saturday.

She has already secured a silver medal for India and will now contest for gold against China’s Ying Zhou on Sunday.

"It is the first time that an Indian player had beaten a Chinese opponent (in table tennis). It's a huge, huge achievement for me. Everyone used to tell me that beating a Chinese player is impossible. But today I have proved that nothing is impossible in the world. Everything is possible if you want to do it", Patel said after winning her semifinal match.

The president of the Paralympic Committee of India, Deepa Malik, and former Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, praised her for reaching the women's singles table tennis final at the Tokyo Paralympics.

 world class skill and moves by Bhavina. what a match to witness. beauty is all her matches have kept you glued and wanting for more. Amazing practice and improvement in game to take world top players head on Kudos @BhavinaPatel6getting Chinese to a 2-2 n then win.

Netizens have flooded social media with congratulatory messages and good luck wishes as they pin their hopes on Patel to win the finale and bag a gold medal.

​If Patel wins the final against Zhou Ying on Sunday, she will become the first Indian woman to take home a gold medal at the Paralympic Games. If she loses, she joins athlete Deepa Malik as the only woman to win a medal for India.