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September 8, 2008

Paralympic Games: Day One & Day Two Review

Monday, Day 2: Natalia Partyka (POL)
(Photo credit: Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Courtesy of BOCG

Day One Review

(BEIJING, September 7) -- Germany's Holger Nikelis and Walter Kilger, the winners of the gold and bronze medals respectively in the Men's Individual Class 1 event at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, both suffered surprise defeats in their opening matches Sunday at the Peking University Gymnasium.

Wheelchair competitors participate in Classes 1-5 while Standing players compete in Classes 6-10; all matches are best of five games.

Nikelis was beaten in a contest that went the full distance by Jean-Francois Ducay of France while Kilger was defeated in three straight games by Yunier Fernandez of Cuba.

The two surprises in the Men's Individual Class 1 event were added to by a third one, when Andrea Vevera of Austria, the number one seed, was beaten in five games by Cho Jae-kwan of the Republic of Korea. The one highly rated player to survive was ROK's Lee Hae-kon, the silver medalist in Athens, he beat Isvel Trujillo of Cuba.

Meanwhile, in the Men's Individual Class 9/10 competitions there was also a result to raise the eyebrows.

Olabiyi Alabi Olufemi of Nigeria defeated Lu Xiaoleiof China, the Class 9 Men's Individual silver medalist in Athens.

However, for top seed Jose Manuel Ruiz of Spain, there were few problems. He defeated David Korn of Germany, while Tahl Leibovitz of the United States, the Athens Class 9 bronze medalist, overcame Tonnie Heijnen of Netherlands.

Also successful were the respective gold, silver and bronze medalists in the Class 10 event in Athens. Ladislav Gaspar of Slovakia, Fredrik Andersson of Sweden and Ge Yang of China all emerged victorious as did Stanislaw Fraczyk of Austria, the Men's Individual Class 9 champion four years ago.

Surprise hit Women's Individual Class 3 as well. Stephanie Mariage of France, the Athens silver medalist, lost by the narrowest of margins to Christina Ploner of Italy. However, for Mateja Pintar of Slovenia, the reigning champion and No.1 seed, there were no heartaches. Pintar beat Federica Cudia of Italy, while Alena Kanova of Slovakia, the bronze medalist four years ago, accounted for Forough Bakhtiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Unexpected verdicts were not the situation for those with high hopes in the Women's Individual Class 1-2 or in Men's Individual Class 2.

In the former, Isabelle Lafaye Marziou of France, the reigning champion, defeated Narges Khazaei of Islamic Republic of Iran, while Clara Poddaof Italy accounted for Dzaier Neil of Great Britain in a close match; the contest was decided by the very narrowest of five game margins.

Meanwhile, in Men's Individual Class 2, Jan Riapos of Slovakia, the winner in Athens, defeated Damien Mennellaof France with the respective silver and bronze medalists from four years ago also emerging successful. ROK's Kim Kong-yong beat Ali Mabrouk Ahmed of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya while Kim Kyung-mook from the Republic of Korea overcame Gao Yanming of China.

Similarly, in Men's Individual Class 4-5 there was success for the highly rated players.

Tommy Urhaug of Norway, the No.1 seed defeated Ilija Durasinovicp of Serbia; Kim Byoung-young of the Republic of Korea, the reigning champion, overcame Chang Chih-Jung of Chinese Taipei, while the player the latter beat in the final four years ago, Jung Eun-chang of the Republic of Korea, defeated Tsang Tit-hung of Hong Kong, China.

Similarly, for the Athens bronze medalist, there was success. Christophe Durand of France overcame Nasiru Sule of Nigeria.

In Women's Individual Class 4 it was the same scenario.

Monika Sikora Weinmann of Germany, the Athens winner, defeated Patrizia Sacca of Italy; Valeria Zorzetto of Italy, who was the silver medalist in Athens, beat Faith Chinenye Obiora of Nigeria while No.1 seed, Borislava Peric of Serbia accounted for Andreja Dolinarof Slovenia.

Wins also came the way of Athens gold and silver medalists in the Men's Individual Class 3 event. Kim Young-gun of the Republic of Korea and Jean-Philippe Robin of France recorded respective wins against Ivan Lisac of Slovenia and Jan Kosco of Slovakia, while Florian Merrien of France, the No.1 seed, defeated Bojan Lukezic of Slovernia.

Concluding the day Zhang Xiaolingof China defeated Marleen Bengtsson Kovacs of Sweden in their Women's Individual Class 8 match; the two had met in the final of Women's Individual Class 6-8 in Athens when the Chinese player had won.

In Beijing she repeated the treatment; while similarly it was a happy ending to the day for Thu Kamkasomphou of France; the No.1 seed; she beat Josefin Abrahamsson of Sweden.

Day One North American Results

Day Two Review

(Beijing, September 8) -- Jean-Francois Ducay of France, the winner on the opening day of proceedings in the Men's Individual Class 1 Table Tennis event over defending champion, Holger Nikelis of Germany, continued his good form on Day 2 when he beat Isvel Trujillo of Cuba to maintain his unbeaten run.

Delight continued for Ducay but there was no joy for Nikelis; he lost to Lee Hae-kon of the Republic of Korea in a contest that went the full distance.

However, for Andreas Vevera of Austria, the No.1 seed, who had lost to Yunier Fernandez of Cuba on the first day of play, there was better news. He beat Walter Kilger of Germany, the Athens 2004 bronze medalist. As for Fernandez, he met defeat in the closest contest to this point in the Table Tennis competition of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

He lost 16-18 in the decisive fifth game against Cho Jae-kwon of the Republic of Korea.

The most impressive player of the morning session was Poland's Natalia Partyka, who underlined indelibly the reasons why she was on the Polish national team at the Olympic Games; she proved too fast and too consistent for Hou Chunxiao of China in her Class 10 Women's Individual duel.

With Partyka seeded first, it was an anticipated outcome, but on the adjacent table in the same event there was a surprise. Li Yuqiang of China, the Athens bronze medalist, was beaten in five games by Audrey Le Morvan of France.

In Women's Individual Class 5, two players shone - Andrea Zimmerer of Germany and Ren Guixiang of China. Seeded No. 1, Zimmerer defeated Chan Siu-ling of Hong Kong, China in straight games while Ren, the reigning champion, handed out the same punishment when facing Tsai Hui-chu of Chinese Taipei.

No problems for the leading ladies in Women's Individual Class 5 and no problems for their counterpart, Genevieve Clot of France in Women's Individual Class 1/2, the silver medalist at Athens 2004, she defeated Dzaier Neil of Great Britain.

Meanwhile, in the Men's Individual Class 2 competition, Jan Riapos of Slovakia, the defending champion, defeated China's Gao Yanming, while Kim Kong-yong of the Republic of Korea, the silver medalist four years ago and No.1 seed here, accounted for Sergey Poddubnyy of Russia.

Day Two North American Results