Four Aussies para-table tennis stars through to Gold Medal playoffs

📷 | Paralympics Australia

In yet another dramatic day for Australian para-table tennis, four Aussies secured a chance to play for Paralympic gold in Tokyo.
 
Ma Lin dropped his first game in the semi-final against Ukrainian world number two Ivan Mai, but the 4-time Paralympic champion didn't let statistics distract him from the task at hand. He confidently took the match in four sets and is now bound to return to the class-9 singles Paralympic final later tonight at 9.15pm AEST, nine years after winning single's gold at London 2012.

Li Na Lei was the protagonist of an epic comeback against 2019 European Champion and world number three Alexa Szvitacs (HUN). The Aussie fell two sets behind - both decided in overtime - but regained razor-sharp focus to steadily climb her way back and win the match in dramatic fashion at the decider.

"The first two games were very close," Lei said. "I couldn't take the most important points and I was maybe a little bit disappointed by that. But then I started focusing on the process and not so much on the outcome, telling myself - you can do it! One point at the time!"

On Monday Lei will play for a sixth Paralympic gold, the first donning the green and gold after previously winning a total of eight Paralympic medals for her native country China.

Sam von Einem's upset was equally thrilling, with the South Australian avenging his Rio 2016 final loss to defending Paralympic champion Florian van Acker (BEL). Sam lost the opening two games against the Belgian and looked destined to settle for bronze, before swinging the momentum around and taking three games in a row for a gold medal spot in the class 11 final. Von Einem will play tomorrow at 6.45pm, looking to upgrade his Rio silver medal to gold when he faces off against current world no.1 Peter Palos (HUN).

"I'm over the moon. To get over van Acker was something that I had been trying to do for so long and now that I've done it, it's unbelievable," von Einem said. "After those two first games I just thought that I had to reset and take one point at the time. I think I did it really well, the match finally started to come my way and I got away with the win."

In the last Australian semi-finals of the day, Qian Yang produced one of the best performances of her career to overcome the tough challenge posed by four-time and reigning Paralympic champion Natalia Partyka (POL). Yang traded blow for blow with the Polish for the entire match and never gave up even when the Polish world no.1 was just two points away from the win. Yang found the strength to make one last push and eventually took the decider 11-9 and the pass for the final.

Earlier in the day Yang had gained access to the medal rounds after beating teammate Milly Tapper 3-0 in an all-Australian quarter-final that kicked off the day at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

Australian team results - 28 Aug 2021

Quarter-finals:

• Women's class 10 - Qian Yang v Melissa Tapper: 3-0 (13-11, 11-3, 11-8)

Semi-finals

• Women's class 9 - Li Na Lei v A. Szvitacs (HUN): 3-2 (12-14, 11-13, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6)
• Men's class 9 - Lin Ma v I. Mai (UKR): 3-1 (12-10, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5)
• Men's class 11 - Sam von Einem v F. van Acker (BEL): 3-2 (4-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5)
• Women's class 10 - Qian Yang v N. Partyka (POL): 3-2 (11-7, 4-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9)

Up next:

Saturday 28 August  

• GOLD MEDAL. Men's class 9 Final - Lin Ma v Laurens Devos (BEL) - 9.15pm AEST

Sunday 29 August 

• GOLD MEDAL. Men's class 11 Final - Sam von Einem v Peter Palos (HUN) - 6.45pm AEST

 Monday 30 August 

• GOLD MEDAL. Women's class 9 Final - Li Na Lei vs Guiyan Xiong (CHN) - 6.45pm AEST
• GOLD MEDAL. Women's class 10 Final - Qian Yang vs Bruna Alexandre (BRA) - 7.45pm AEST