Paralympic medallists return to table

In three classifications – men’s class 1 and women’s classes 6 and 7 – all medallists from London 2012 will be present.

Seven London 2012 Paralympic table tennis gold medallists will be in action this week in the Lignano Masters Open, which begins on Tuesday (19 March) in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy.

In three classifications – men’s class 1 and women’s classes 6 and 7 – all medallists from London 2012 will be present.

Germany’s Holger Nikelis, France’s Jean-Francois Ducay of France and Great Britain’s Paul Davies are all Liganno bound, having won gold, silver and bronze, respectively, at the Paralympics.

Russia’s Raisa Chebonika, who won the women’s class 6 gold is competing, as is Julia Ovsyannikova, the silver medallist and Yuliya Klimenko, the bronze medallist.

They may start as three players tipped for honours in Lignano, but they could well have a very serious challenger, a player who competed in the Beijing Olympic Games and made her para-table tennis debut earlier this month in Eger, Hungary.

Not only did she make her first appearance in Eger, she also won the women’s class 6 title.

In the women’s class 7 singles competition, Kelly Van Zon of the Netherlands, Russia’s Julia Ovsyannikova and Ukraine’s Victoriia Safonova, all appear in the starting lineup.

In London, they were the gold, silver and bronze medallists, respectively, in that class.

Also among the women will be Sweden’s Anna-Carin Ahlquist, the gold medallist in class 3.

Sloavkia’s Jan Riapos, the men’s class 2 winner, is heading for the Adriatic coast as is Norway’s Tommy Urhaug, the class 5 champion and Poland’s Patryk Chojnowski, the class 10 victor.

Will Bayleywill also take part in the event. Bayley won a class 7 singles silver at the Paralympics.

Related Images

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Great Britain's Paul Davies competes at London 2012

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Great Britain's David Wetherill made a name for himself with his wonder shot at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.