• HOME
• PRODUCTS
  • Balls|
  • Bulk|
  • Gear|
  • Net & Court Accessories|
  • Rackets|
  • Pool Table Conversion Tops|
  • Racket Care|
  • Tables
• GO PLAY
  • Clubs|
  • Leagues|
  • Tournaments|
• NEWS
• DEALERS
• PLAYERS
• RULES
• FAQ
• ABOUT US
• CONTACT US

September 9, 2008

Paralympic Games: Day Three Review

Jordan's Khetam Abuawad Photo By: Jiri Danek

Courtesy of ITTF Tension Mounts as First Stage Matches Come to a Conclusion Tension mounted during the morning session of play on the third day of action, Tuesday 9th September 2008, at the Beijing Paralympic Games in the Peking University Gymnasium.

A place in the second stage of proceedings was at stake, only the first placed player in each group would qualify, the only exception being that where there were only two groups, then the first two players would proceed. In the first session of play on the third day, this factor did not come into consideration; all events had four groups or more.

In the wheelchair events (Classes 1-5) and in the Standing events (Classes 6-10), the competition was intense.

First Winners of the Day
The first group winners of the day to be decided came in Women's Singles Class 4, with Monika Sikora-Weinmann of Germany, the Athens gold medalist plus Korea's Moon Sung Hye, China's Zhou Ying and Serbia's Borislava Peric, the number one seed, all securing semi-final places.

Monika Sikora-Weinmann maintained her unbeaten record by overcoming Korea's Jun Ji Nam, while Borislava Peric completed her program unscathed with victory over Fatmeh Al-Azzam of Jordan.

Impressive Run Continues
Similarly, Zhou Ying continued her impressive run by defeating Great Britain's Sue Gilroy with Moon Sung Hye being the player to cause the surprise.

In the crucial contest to determine top place in her group, she beat Valeria Zorzetto of Italy, the silver medalist four years ago in Athens.

Women's Individual Class 5
The semi-finalists in the Women's Individual Class 5 event are also known.

They are China's Ren Guixiang, the defending champion, Germany's Andrea Zimmerer, the number one seed, plus China's Gu Gai and Jordan's Khetam Abuawad.

All four remained unbeaten in their respective group matches with Ren Guixiang completing her program with victory over Sweden's Ingela Lundack, while Andrea Zimmerer defeated China's Zhang Bian and Khetam Abuawad accounted for Noga Nir Kistler of the United States.

The one surprise was provided by Gu Gai. In her concluding match, she defeated Chinese Taipei's Wei Mei-Hui, the 2004 bronze medalist.

Men's Individual Classes 4-5
Also, in Men's Individual Classes 4-5, the qualifiers are known with Norway's Tommu Urhaug, the number one seed, plus the Koreans Kim Byoung Young and Jung Eun Chang, the respective gold and silver medal winners in Athens, all emerging as group winners.

Top spot for the Athens medalists and also it was first place for Sweden's Ernst Bollden, Korea's Choi Kyoung Sik and France's Emeric Martin.

Men's Individual Classes 9-10
Similarly, the decision of those who progressed in Men's Individual Classes 9-10 was determined with Spain's Jose Miguel Ruiz, the number one seed plus China's Ge Yang, the Class 10 bronze medalist in 2004 and Sweden's Fredrik Andersson, the silver medalist four years ago, all booking their places.

In addition, China's Ma Lin, France's Gilles de la Bourdonnaye and Finland's Esa Mittinen all remained unbeaten.

Close Contest
The one remaining qualifier is the Czech Republic's Dezso Berecki; in a group where all three players finished with one victory each and were level on games ratio, he gained a points verdict over the Czech Republic's Ivan Karabec and Nigeria's Tajudeen Agunbiade.

Alas for the respective silver and bronze medalists in the Athens Men's Individual Class 9 event, there was no further progress. China's Lu Xiaolei and Tal Leibovitz of the United States, all failed to qualify.

Men's Individual Class 3
Meanwhile, in Men's Individual Class 3, China's Feng Panfeng, France's Jean-Philippe Robin and Florian Merrien, Spain's Thomas Pinas, Great Britain's Neil Robinson, Israel's Liran Geva and Serbia's Zlatko Kesler, completed their group matches unbeaten.

The year 2004 saw Jean-Philippe Robin emerge as the silver medalist while Zlatko Kesler captured bronze; Florian Merrien is the number one seed.

No Decision
In Men's Individual Class 8 matters moved nearer a decision but the final verdict awaits; however, there was a surprise. Belgium's Mathieu Loicq, the gold medalist in Athens, was beaten by Poland's Piotr Grudzien.

Defeat for one Belgian but success for another; Marc Ledoux, the silver medalist four years ago, beat Canada's Ian Kent while Slovakia's Richard Csejtey, the top seed and bronze medalist in Athens, overcame Hou Ting-Sing of Chinese Taipei.

Day Three North American Results