by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Both contests ended in two-nil victory margins; Mateo Boheas and Cédrik Cabestany gave France the perfect start by securing a doubles success (11-9, 11-5, 11-7), before Mateo Boheas returned to the table to conclude matters by overcoming Carlos Carbinatti (11-7, 7-11, 11-7, 12-10).
Similarly, Marcio da Costa and Iranildo Espindola made the ideal start. They won the doubles contest (11-3, 11-5, 11-8); prior to Macio da Costa accounting for Rob Davies (11-9, 7-11, 15-13, 11-2) to bring matters to an end.
Atmosphere
Simply those are the facts; what the facts do not reveal is the atmosphere in which the contests were played, especially the duel in Class 1-2.
Rob Davies and Paul Davies are both Class 1 athletes; their Brazilian adversaries are Class 2 and thus have a less severe disability.
“To have the Paralympic Games in our country is fantastic and important. The supporters have given us so much power; since first day, we have had support. We have had so many people in this venue. We are so happy, we want to say “thank you” to all” Iranidlo Espindola
Two days earlier Rob Davies had celebrated when winning Class 1 gold; after losing to Marcio da Costa, he applauded his adversary as the Brazilians celebrated. Simply, he wanted to remember the occasion in a positive manner as did his colleague, the most important factor was the sport itself.
Faced the crowd in line
The gesture did not go unnoticed; at the conclusion of the contest, the third member of the Brazilian team, Alois Lima joined the group as both teams formed a line, waved to the crowd and gained warm applause.
“We have a good feeling; on the table, we are opponents. We are here to win but we are here to celebrate too. Meeting our opponents is important, we learn so much; here there is no dark side, no violence, we are all together.” Aloisio Lima
Brazil, Great Britain and those in the crowd whatever the nationality were in harmony; most pleased it had been a home win but equally respectful of the effort made.
Success for Korea
Success for Brazil in Men’s Team Class 1-2, it was the same for same for the Korean duo comprising Cha Sooyong and Kim Kyungmook; they beat the Italian combination of Andras Borgato and Guiseppe Vella to reserve their place in the last four.
Wins for China, Czech Republic and Spain
Meanwhile, in Men’s Team Class 9-10, China, the Czech Republic and Spain emerged successful.
China with Ma Lin and Lian Hao on duty beat the Great Britain duo of Kim Daybell and Ashley Facey-Thompson by two matches to nil.
Likewise, Spain’s José-Manuel Reyes and Jorge Cardona secured a two-one win against the Czech Republic’s Ivan Karabec and Daniel Horhut, the same result as was recorded by the Polish combination of patryk Chijnowski, Piotr Grudzien and Marcin Skrzynecki.
They ended the hopes of the Netherlands combination comprising Gerben Last and Bas Hegerlink.