China and France dominant in table tennis

France’s Pascal Pereira-Leal dominated in his 3-0 win over Brazil’s Lucas Maciel in class 11 and demonstrated why he occupies the world No. 1 spot.

China demonstrated their table tennis world dominance to open the Paralympic Games competition on Thursday (30 August), as Meng Liu was the only Chinese player to lose at ExCeL.

Liu defeated teammate Lina Lei, gold-medal winner from Beijing 2008, in a 3-0 match that lasted just 15 minutes.

France also left no doubt about their Paralympic prowess, with an impressive start from all their top contenders putting them in a good position to better their tally of four gold medals from Beijing 2008.

France’s Pascal Pereira-Leal dominated in his 3-0 win over Brazil’s Lucas Maciel in class 11 and demonstrated why he occupies the world No. 1 spot.

One of the most closely contested matches of the day was an epic 42-minute encounter between France’s Cedrik Cabestany and Sweden’s Linus Karlsson. The sixth-seeded Frenchman defeated his opponent, 3-2.

Class 7 men's singles looks like it will be one of the most closely contested, with all of the top players easing through their first group matches, including world No. 2 Will Bayley of Great Britain, who beat Thailand’s Yuttana Namsaga.

The youngest table tennis player in the Paralympic Games, 14-year-old Pek Karolina of Poland, made a valiant attempt to beat the more experienced and higher ranked Neslihan Kavas of Turkey. Pek pushed Kavas all the way as the match's five games were completed in just 23 minutes, without a single game lasting more than four minutes.

Aida Dahlen, a No. 3 seed and Norway's only female competitor, got off to a good start in the women’s class 8 with a comfortable victory early in the day, but her hopes were dented in the evening session when she dropped her second match in straight games.

France’s Thu Kamkasomphou and China’s Jingdian Mao, both top seeds in their respective classes, opened their accounts with 3-0 victories.