Indian paddlers Bhavinaben Patel and Sonalben Manubhai Patel began their campaigns with opening round defeats in their respective events at the Tokyo Paralympics, here on Wednesday.

Competing in the women’s Class 3 category, Sonalben was ahead after the first three games but lost momentum to lose 11-9, 3-11, 17-15, 7-11, 4-11 against Li Quan of China, World No. 4 and the Rio Paralympics silver medallist, in a tightly-contested match.