Taiwanese Tian Shiau-wen and Cheng Ming-chih on Monday both secured medals after advancing to the semi-finals in the Paris Paralympics table tennis women’s and men’s singles events.
After battling past Faith Obazuaye of Nigeria in the round-of-16 in the women’s singles TT10 on Sunday, Tian found her quarter-final opponent, Melissa Tapper of Australia, to be a formidable challenge.
In the first two games, Tian repeatedly fended off Tapper’s game points, narrowly winning 13-11, 15-13, which put her at match point.
Photo: Reuters
However, as her playing style became more predictable, she missed several match points in the fourth game, allowing Tapper to level the score.
With her coach Chuang Wen-chuan frequently reminding her to stay calm, Tian improved her performance in the decisive fifth game.
In the end, a fortunate shot helped Tian secure an 11-8 victory over Tapper.
The Taiwanese now advances to the semi-finals and is guaranteed to get her second medal at the Paralympics.
“I’m happy that my results are at least the same as in the last Paralympics, but there are still some areas for improvement,” Tian said. “I’ll discuss them with my coach when I get back. I hope tomorrow’s match will be even better than today’s.”
Tian, 24, also won silver in the women’s doubles WD20 with Lin Tzu-yu on Saturday.
“The boost from winning a medal in the women’s doubles has made me want even more,” she said. “From here on, I will give my all to go even further.”
Meanwhile, Cheng secured his first medal in the men’s singles TT5 by defeating Rio Paralympics gold medalist Cao Ningning of China 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7 in just 29 minutes.
Cheng, once a national table tennis player in his youth and now a national para table tennis athlete, faced a major setback after losing his left leg in a car accident when he was 32.
After the accident, Cheng isolated himself and resisted returning to the sport. However, with the encouragement of his coach and father, he quickly rebuilt his reputation.
In the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, he teamed up with Lin Yen-hung to win a silver medal in the men’s team TT5 event.
Speaking to reporters, Cheng expressed gratitude to his coaches for their help in preparing him for Monday’s match.
Having lost to Cao several times in the past, Cheng admitted that he felt a bit nervous when the draw was announced. Cheng credited his coaches for helping him maintain a calm mindset in the match.
“My coach worked hard on building up my mental strength,” the 45-year-old said. “Since I had won the last two encounters, the coach reminded me to trust myself.”
“As long as I can win a medal for Taiwan, I’m very happy,” he added.
Cheng admitted that he had suffered from anxiety during the Tokyo Paralympics, but with the help of a psychologist at the National Training Center, he was able to remain calm and focused.
“From now on, I will just focus on doing my best in every match,” he said.
Cheng was to compete against Mitar Palikuca of Serbia at 12:15am this morning Taiwan time, while Tian was scheduled to face Natalia Partyka of Poland at 1:45am.
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