08/19/2012       Paralympic Games

The LIEBHERR World Championships, staged in 2003 in the Paris suburb of Bercy, will always be remembered for the incredible efforts of Austria’s Werner Schlager, the winner of the Men’s Singles crown. He won against all predictions, he won against all odds.

Perhaps we forget that every other title on offer was won by China and, of course, when the event returns to the same arena in May 2013, the venue will be full of memories for Werner Schlager. Now in the twilight of his international career, he will no doubt be in action for Austria.

However, one player who was present ten years ago will not be in action in 2013. Cédrik Cabestany of France now has different goals and more immediate goals; his eyes are focused on the 2012 Paralympic Games.

 08/16/2012       Paralympic Games

Think of Poland; think of the Olympic Games and of the Paralympic Games and one name comes to mind immediately.

It is that of Natalia Partyka and rightly so, she won the Women’s Singles Class 10 title at both the Athens and Beijing Paralympic Games.

However, there is another Polish player who will be on duty at the forthcoming Paralympic Games to be staged in the ther ExCeL Arena form Thursday 30th to Saturday 8th September 2012, a player on debut.

The name is Patryk Chojnowski, he will be playing in the Men’s Class 10 events and like Natalia Partyka he has a very impressive record when it comes to mainstream play.

 07/14/2012       Olympic Games

Always she greets you with a smiling face, a most gracious and charming young lady but inside, deep down inside there is a steely determination to succeed, a will to win.

It is that desire combined with a delightful personality that makes Natalia Partyka both a winner and popular with everyone concerned.

She is record breaker, not once but twice.

In 2008 in Beijing, she became the first table tennis player to compete in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Four years later, she has repeated the feat.

 03/13/2012       Paralympic Games

The 2012 Paralympic Games in London looming ever closer, the table tennis events commencing on Wednesday 29th August and concluding on Sunday 9th September, the Selection Committee formed by members of the ITTF Para Table Tennis Division, met recently to allocate places for the quadrennial event.

Home for the gathering was the Belgian town of La Louvière; the meeting commenced on Friday 2nd March and concluded on Monday 5th March.

At the helm, in his home town, was Nico Verspelt who, in addition to being the Selection Officer, is the Vice Chair and Classification Secretary of the ITTF Para Table Tennis Division.

 10/27/2011      

The title of European champion is a proud accolade.

However, for those who gained the honour at the European Para Table Tennis Championships in the Croatian city of Split on Monday 24th October 2011, there is an added bonus.

A place in the Paralympic Games has been reserved; for 20 players in Split, they can now make plans to journey to the English capital city for the prestigious quadrennial event.

Prestigious, every day of competition sees table tennis on the menu. Singles events begin on Thursday 30th August with the finals of team events concluding matters on Saturday 8th September.

 9/16/2008       Paralympic Games

Matters came to an end in the Peking University Gymnasium on Tuesday 16th September 2008 with China adding to their prodigious collection of gold medals in the Paralympic Games.

Victory was secured in the final of the Men’s Team Classes 9-10 event. The national anthem had a familiar ring; it had been played time and again.

China had welcomed the world and thanks to extensive media coverage the world knew about China and the Paralympic Games.

 9/16/2008       Paralympic Games

Proceedings in the table tennis events at the Paralympics Games in the Peking University Gymnasium came to an end in familiar circumstances.

In the final contest to be decided, it was China who stood proudly on the top step of the medal podium, having won gold in the Men’s Team Classes 9-10 event late in the evening of Tuesday 16th September 2008.

They beat Spain three-nil, whilst on the adjacent table France secured the bronze medal overcoming the Czech Republic by the same margin.

 9/16/2008       Paralympic Games

Drama, passion, emotion; it was a combination of all the ingredients necessary for a sporting contest.

It was the final of Men’s Team Classes 4-5 in the Peking University Gymnasium at the Paralympic Games on the final day of play, Tuesday 16th September 2008. It had the almost full house totally captivated as China and Korea contested the gold medal, silence when a player served, thunderous applause and rhythmical chanting between points.

The verdict went to Korea in a match where character, fortitude and sheer guts were displayed to the full by all involved.

 9/16/2008       Paralympic Games

Chen Gang was the proudest man in China when he stood on the top step of the medal podium after winning the Men’s Individual Class 8 title on Thursday 11th September.

Five days later on Tuesday 16th September 2008 he was the happiest man in China.

In the Men’s Team Classes 6-8 final against Slovakia, he jumped for joy like a jack-in-the-box when he recovered from two games to nil down and a fifth game deficit against Richard Csejtey and then fell prone on the floor when doubles victory was secured.