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The opponents of the Australian Para-table tennis team were unveiled on Monday as the official draw determined the preliminary stages of the men’s and women’s singles at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
It was long-awaited news for the squad of 11, the biggest Australian table tennis contingent in Paralympic history, who can now dedicate the remaining time before competition begins on Wednesday to finalising their match strategies.
“All players were really chomping at the bit to get their draws.” said Australian Head Coach Alois Rosario after the presentation. “Now that they have their matchups, they can really hone in on their opponents in the groups.”
The outcome of the draw was particularly interesting for some of our top players, further fuelling Paralympic rivalries for Ma Lin and Melissa Tapper, as they match up against the same opponents who inflicted them painful defeats at the Rio 2016 Games.
In the Men’s Class 9, four-time Paralympic gold medallist Ma Lin will be up against Italian Mohamed Kalem, who won bronze in 2016.
“Ma Lin has been thinking a lot about this rematch. It was a bit of an unexpected outcome in Rio, so this time he is really focused on how he can turn that result around,” Rosario said.
Melissa Tapper will square off against Bruna Costa Alexandre of Brazil, who denied the Australian a chance to win a medal five years ago, in the Women’s Class 10.
“Melissa has also been looking to come up against Bruna again. She lost to her in the bronze medal teams play-off in Rio, but that was in front of a huge Brazilian home crowd. Now she’ll have another good opportunity to show what she’s got.”
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According to Rosario, one of the toughest classes in the draw is the Women’s Class 9, the section which includes Australia’s five-time Paralympic gold medallist Li Na Lei.
“All players in that class are really high quality, so it’s going to be tough for our Li Na,” Rosario said. “She’ll come up against Kim of Korea, who she did beat at the Japan Open last year, but only after conceding her some match points before coming up with the goods.
“That’s going to be a tough match, as well as the one against Karolina Pek, who’s seeded no.2 at this event.”
Rosario also said that due to the limited number of tournaments played internationally in the last 18 months, the draw might very well hide some surprises.
“I think our advantage is that we’ve actually had a bit more preparation time, so we had a chance to sit back, have a look at the world and the level of players.”
The atmosphere in the Australian Para-table tennis camp is buzzing with excitement and rallying behind Australian Paralympic Team co-captain Danni di Toro, who was one of the two flag-bearers for the opening ceremony.
“It’s really pretty special,” Rosario agreed. “The thing that this team has gained a lot of in the last few years has been experience. We had Li Na, Lin and Qian bringing the experience that comes from winning medals, but Danni has been a big part of it as well. She contributed the huge wealth of experience coming from her wheelchair tennis career and her participation in now seven Paralympic Games.
“Bringing that into the team was huge and she’s now a bit of a mother figure for a lot of the other athletes. For them to see her recognised like that is a huge boost of morale,” Rosario said.
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The Tokyo 2020 Para-table tennis competition starts Wednesday at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium with the singles tournaments, followed by the team events from August 31. A total of 31 medals will be awarded, 17 for men and 14 for women, with events contested across a total of 11 classes.
Wednesday 25 August
10am AEST
Li Na Lei v Jennyfer Marques Parinos (BRA)
Class 9
10:40am AEST
Lin Ma v Joshua Stacey (GBR)
Class 9
11:20am AEST
Rebecca Julian v Maryna Lytovchenko (UKR)
Class 6
12:40pm AEST
Daniela di Toro v Sandra Mikolaschek (GER)
Class 4
Nathan Pellissier v Aaron McKibbin (GBR)
Class 8
2pm AEST
Trevor Hirth v Bobi Simion (ROU)
Class 6
5:40pm AEST
Joel Coughlan v Filip Radovic (MNE)
Class 10
6:20pm AEST
Melissa Tapper v Txu Yu Lin (TPE)
Class 10
7pm AEST
Qian Yang v Xiaojing Zhao (CHN)
Class 10
7:40pm AEST
Sam von Einem v Takashi Asano (JPN)
Class 11
8:20pm AEST
Jake Ballestrino v Sayed Mohamed Youssef (EGY)
Class 7
9pm AEST
Li Na Lei v Karolina Pek (POL)
Class 9
Watch the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games live and free on Seven and 7plus from August 24 – September 5.
By: Paralympics Australia
Posted: 25 August 2021
