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Four-time Paralympian Ma Lin won Australia’s first para-table tennis medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games on Saturday, claiming silver in the Men’s Singles class 9, while three of his team-mates also secured spots in the gold medal playoffs.
Ma kicked off the finals with a silver, with Sam von Einem, Li Na Lei and Qian Yang producing thrilling semi-final wins to book their shots at gold.
31-year-old Ma was defeated 3-1 in the final by world number one and defending Paralympic champion Laurens Devos (BEL).
Watch the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games live and free on Seven and 7plus from August 24 – September 5.
The newly minted Australian, who is donning the green and gold for the first time in Tokyo, was pleased to add a second silver medal to an already extensive collection of four golds and one silver, between individual and team events, won representing his native country China.
He came out strong in a tight first game, trading blows throughout the set and edging the 21-year-old Belgian prodigy for an 11-9 opener. Unfortunately, his lead was short-lived with Devos finding his rhythm in the second game to level at one game apiece (11-6), before growing in confidence and becoming almost unstoppable in the third and fourth set, both taken 11-3.
“I’m very happy. When I saw my group draw, I thought it was tough because a lot of good players in my group and I made a goal just get through the group stage… and I did that and it was better than I expected.
“I think our Australian team is very strong now, and hope that they can go on to win the gold medals,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Li Na Lei was the protagonist of an epic comeback against 2019 European Champion and world number three Alexa Szvitacs (HUN). The Aussie fell two sets behind – both decided in overtime – but regained razor-sharp focus to steadily climb her way back and win the match in dramatic fashion in the decider.
“The first two games were very close,” Lei said. “I couldn’t take the most important points and I was maybe a little bit disappointed by that. But then I started focusing on the process and not so much on the outcome, telling myself – you can do it! One point at a time!”
On Monday, Lei will play for a sixth Paralympic gold – the first in Australian colours – after previously winning eight Paralympic medals for her native country China.
Sam von Einem’s upset was equally thrilling, with the South Australian avenging his Rio 2016 final loss to defending Paralympic champion Florian van Acker (BEL). von Einem lost the opening two games against the Belgian and looked destined to settle for bronze, before swinging the momentum around and taking three games in a row for a spot in the class 11 final. Von Einem will play on Sunday at 6.45pm AEST, looking to upgrade on his Rio silver medal when he faces current world no.1 Palos (HUN).
“I’m over the moon. To get over van Acker was something that I had been trying to do for so long and now that I’ve done it, it’s unbelievable,” von Einem said. “After those two first games I just thought that I had to reset and take one point at the time. I think I did it really well, the match finally started to come my way and I got away with the win.”
In the last Australian semi-finals of the day, Qian Yang produced one of the best performances of her career to overcome the tough challenge posed by four-time and reigning Paralympic champion Natalia Partyka (POL). Yang traded blow for blow with the Polish for the entire match even when the Polish world no.1 was just two points away from the win. Yang found the strength to make one last push and eventually took the decider 11-9 and claim a place in the final.
Watch the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games live and free on Seven and 7plus from August 24 – September 5.
Australian team results – 28 Aug 2021
Men’s Singles class 9 Final
Result: Laurens Devos (BEL) b. Lin Ma (AUS) 3-1 – [9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-3]
- GOLD: Laurens Devos (BEL)
- SILVER: Lin Ma (AUS)
- BRONZE: Ivan Mai (UKR) & Iurii NOZDRUNOV (RPC)
Semi-finals
- Women’s class 9 – Li Na Lei v A. Szvitacs (HUN): 3-2 (12-14, 11-13, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6)
- Men’s class 11 – Sam von Einem v F. van Acker (BEL): 3-2 (4-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5)
- Women’s class 10 – Qian Yang v N. Partyka (POL): 3-2 (11-7, 4-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9)
More Aussies in action
Sunday 29 August
- Men’s class 11 Final – Sam von Einem v P. Palos (HUN) – 6.45pm AEST
Monday 30 August
- Women’s class 9 Final – Li Na Lei vs Guiyan Xiong (CHN) – 6.45pm AEST
- Women’s class 10 Final – Qian Yang vs Bruna Alexandre (BRA) – 7.45pm AEST
By: Paralympics Australia
Posted: 28 August 2021
