When the Covid-19 pandemic derailed her preparations for the Paralympics, TT player Bhavinaben Patel found a perfect practice partner in a robot provided by the Sports Authority of India, an assistance which she feels, made all the difference in her historic silver-winning show in Tokyo.

Patel became the first Indian TT player to win a Paralympic medal by clinching silver. “I got a robot through SAI TOPS [Target Olympic Podium Scheme] which is an advanced robot. It has many advanced features like you can get strokes from different angles. So, I got good variations from it in my game. It improved my game a lot,” said Patel, who was afflicted with polio as a toddler.