Rio 2016 preview: table tennis

The Rio 2016 table tennis competition includes 29 medal events and will be contested at the Riocentro Pavilion 3 venue, located within five minutes from the Barra Olympic Park and adjacent to the Paralympic Village, between 8-17 September.

Spain’s world number one Alvaro Valera will be hoping to improve on the two silvers he won at London 2012 by claiming gold in the men’s singles class 6, just as he did at Sydney 2000. But he is expected to face a stiff challenge against Denmark’s Beijing 2008 champion Peter Rosenmeier.

In the women’s singles class 1-2, China’s Jing Liu aims to win her third consecutive Paralympic title, but will find South Korea’s world number one Su Yeon Seo hard to beat, especially after losing to her in the gold-medal match at last year’s Asian Championships.

Jing Liu’s teammate Lin Ma has dominated the men’s singles class 9 and does not appear to have slowed down.

Poland’s Natalia Partyka, arguably the most well-known table tennis player, will be pushing to win her fourth successive Paralympic gold in the women’s singles class 10. But Brazil’s world number three Bruna Costa Alexandre will also fight for gold with the home crowd behind her.

Others to look out for are Great Britain’s Will Bayley (men’s class 7), Sweden’s Anna Carin-Ahlquist (women’s class 3), Coratia’s Sandra Paovic (women’s class 6), and South Korea’s Young-gun Kim (men’s class 4-5).

Location: Riocentro – Pavilion 3

Schedule: 8-17 September

Mark your calendars for…

Sunday, 11 September

• 16:30-21:00 Singles medal-games SF11, SM6, SM3, SF1-2, SM9

Tuesday, 13 September

• 10:00-19:30 Singles medal-games SF6, SM8, SF7, SM1, SM2, SM4, SF9, SF10

Friday, 16 September

• 10:00-14:00 Men’s team medal-games TM4-5, TM6-8

• 16:30-18:30 Women’s team medal-games TF1-3

• 18:30-20:30 Men’s team medal-games TM3

Saturday, 17 September

• 10:00-14:00 Women’s team medal-games TF4-5, TF6-10

• 16:30-20:30 Men’s team medal-games TM1-2, TM9-10

Ones to watch:

• Young-gun Kim (KOR): The men’s class 4 player aims to defend his singles Paralympic title at Rio 2016.

• Alvaro Valera (SPA): Valera is hoping to win a first Paralympic gold since he topped the podium at Sydney 2000.

• Anna-Carin Ahlquist (SWE): The London 2012 gold medallist will be the one-to-beat in the women’s class 3.

• Jing Liu (CHN): She will go for her third successive Paralympic title in Rio, where she will have to beat Asian rival South Korea’s Su Yeon Seo.

• Lin Ma (CHN): Considered one of the best table tennis players in history, world number one Lin is aiming to repeat her London 2012 exploits by claiming gold in both the singles and team events.

• Natalia Partyka (POL): As the reigning Paralympic, world and European champion, Partyka will be the one to beat in Rio.

• Sandra Paovic (CRO): After winning the world and European titles, the Croatian is aiming for her first Paralympic title in the women’s class 6.

• Will Bayley (GBR): The 28-year-old improved on her London 2012 silver-medal performance to claim the world title in 2014.

How to follow:

• IPC Livestream

• IPC Facebook

• IPC Twitter

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Sport fans from around the world can now buy their Paralympic tickets for Rio 2016 from authorised ticket resellers (ATRs).

The IPC’s Global ATR is Jet Set Sports, and Rio 2016 tickets and packages can be purchased on the CoSport website.

Residents of Brazil can buy 2016 Paralympics tickets directly from the Rio 2016 website.

Visa International is the exclusive payment card and the official payment system for the Paralympic Games.