New Delhi: Bhavina Patel is just a step away from the top-podium finish in the table tennis event of the ongoing Paralympics in Tokyo after she accounted for world No. 3 and six-time Asian gold medallist Miao Zhang of China in a tough semi-final on Saturday morning.

The 34-year-old from Mehsana, Gujarat, won the tough semi-final 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8 in 34 minutes flat. The Ahmedabad-based ESIC paddler will take on in tomorrow's final world No. 1 Ying Zhou from China, a two-time gold medal winner.

Competing in her maiden Games in the Class 4 category, the Indian found herself caught on the foot, losing the opening game. But she came back strongly in the second only to lose the next to Zhang, who showed her supremacy and class, taking the issue to the decider.

But the determined Indian began aggressively with clean returns and effective backhands to lead comfortably before letting the Chinese some leeway. But the Chinese failed to cash in on the opportunities. The Indian, however, grabbed her chances when Zhang committed unforced errors at crucial junctures, making an easy passage into the final.

“I am happy my struggles have paid off so far,” she said.

But I would go all out in the final tomorrow to change the colour of my medal,” she added, with prayers on her lips.

It will be a tough gold medal match tomorrow. Zhou has an enviable record of clinching back-to-back gold medals from the Beijing (2008) and London (2012) Games. But Bhavina can take heart from the fact that she beat reigning champion Borislava Peric Rankovic of Serbia on Friday. The World No. 2 Serbian defeated Zhou in the Rio final, and the Indian can follow suit.

Bhavina first won a silver medal in the 2011 Thailand Open, and two years later, she claimed second silver at the Asian Championships. However, her golden hunt ended only in 2019 when she won the yellow metal at the Bangkok Open. She became world No. 8 when she won her second gold last year in Egypt, her stock touching a new high.

Incidentally, Bhavina is the only second Indian woman to win a medal in the Paralympic Games.