Bearing down: table tennis medal rush
AUSTRALIA was on track to win its first gold medal in Paralympic table tennis since 1984 thanks to a one-armed naturalised Chinese champion who lost his upper limb in bizarre circumstances.
Ma Lin has emerged as one of Australia’s brightest stars in Tokyo because of his brilliant performances with the paddle and his incredible tale of survival that has endeared him to his new homeland.
Virtually unknown in Australian sporting circles despite being one of the best para table tennis players in the world, Ma Lin lost his right arm when he was just five years old when it was bitten off by a brown bear at a zoo in China.
He now calls Australia home and was on track to win the ultimate prize after advancing to Saturday’s Class 9 final against Belgian Laurens Devos at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
Australia has only ever won two gold medals in Paralympic table tennis – one each in 1964 and 1984 – but incredibly, Ma
Lin is just one of four Aussies through to gold medal matches in Tokyo.
When he moved to Australia after the 2016 Rio Paralympics, Ma Lin brought two of his closest Chinese friends – Yang Qian and Lei Lina. They are also through to gold medal matches in Tokyo.
And there’s more.
Sam von Einem – who ended Australia’s 32 year drought when he won a silver medal in Rio in 2016, is through to Sunday’s C11 men’s final, where he will take on Hungarian world No. 1 Peter Palos.