Lin Ma claims silver to win Australia’s first para-table tennis medal at Tokyo Paralympics

📷 | Paralympics Australia

Four-time Paralympian Lin Ma won Australia's first para-table tennis medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games tonight, as he claimed silver in the Men's Singles class 9. The 31-year-old was defeated 3-1 in the final by world number one and defending Paralympic champion Laurens Devos (BEL).

The newly minted Australian donning the green and gold for the first time at the Tokyo Games was pleased to add a second silver medal to an already extensive collection of four golds and one silver, between individual and team events, won representing his native country China.  

Ma came out strong in a tight first game, trading blows throughout the set and edging the 21-year-old Belgian prodigy for an 11-9 opener. Unfortunately his lead was short-lived with Devos finding his rhythm in the second game to level up the score at one game apiece (11-6), before growing in confidence and becoming almost unstoppable in the third and fourth set, both taken 11-3.

“I’m very happy. When I saw my group draw, I thought it was tough because there were a lot of good players in it, so I made a goal just to get through the group stage…and I did that, and then it was better than I expected! 

“I think our Australian team is very strong now, and I hope that they can go on to win the gold medals,” he said. 

Australia has three more chances to win a para-table tennis gold medal that has eluded the Aussies at the Games since 1984, as Sam von Einem, Li Na Lei and Qian Yang are all qualified for the gold medal playoffs in their class. Von Einem will face off against current world no.1 Peter Palos (HUN) tomorrow at 6.45pm AEST in the Men's class 11, while Lei will play Guiyan Xiong (CHN) at 6.45pm AEST in the Women's class 9, followed by Yang v Bruna Alexandre (BRA) at 7.45pm AEST in the Women's class 10.

All matches will be broadcast live on 7Plus.

Final result: Laurens Devos (BEL) b. Lin Ma (AUS) 3-1 - [9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-3]

Men’s Singles class 9

• GOLD: Laurens Devos (BEL)

• SILVER: Lin Ma (AUS)

• BRONZE: Ivan Mai (UKR) & Iurii NOZDRUNOV (RPC)

What’s next:

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