by Ian Marshall, Editor
Moreover, there could be repeats of gold medal contests of three years ago at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
Memorably, in men’s singles class 1, Great Britain’s Rob Davies beat Korea Republic’s Joo Youngdae to claim the title. Both appear on the Ostrava entry list.
“I’ve had a lot more consistency in my training over the summer, so it is going in the right direction and I’m quite happy with where I am at the moment. It is all about qualifying for Tokyo next year so that is my main goal, to get qualified and keep making improvements. It is good to see the Koreans will be there and hopefully I will get to play them. They are obviously good players and it will be good to test ourselves against them.” Rob Davies
In Ostrava, Rob Davies lines up alongside Tom Matthews and Paul Davies. Notably last year Tom Matthews was a bronze medallist at the 2018 World Para Championships in Lasko; Paul Davies at the London 2012 Paralympic Games
“Tom is coming along nicely and it will be good to see how he does against the Koreans as well. We can push each other going towards Tokyo and that will be good for us all I think.” Rob Davies
A possible Rio de Janeiro repeat in men’s singles class 1; it could also happen in men’s singles class 6.
The names of Denmark’s Peter Rosenmeier and Spain’s Alvaro Valera both appear on the entry list. In Rio de Janeiro Peter Rosenmeier accounted for Alvaro Valera in the title decider. Previously, Peter Rosenmeier had won gold at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, Alvaro Valera had emerged the winner in 2000 in Sydney.
Noteworthy names and there are more who have enjoyed success at the highest level. Slovakia’s Jan Riapos will be in action; he won men’s singles class at the Athens 2004 and London 2012 Paralympic Games. Likewise, winners in London in 2012, Norway’s Tommy Urhaug in class 5 and Poland’s Patryk Chojnowski in class 10 compete in Ostrava.
Similarly in the women’s singles events, there are most prominent names; Norway’s Aida Dahlen, the class 8 European champion in both 2015 and 2017 competes as does Serbia’s Borislava Peric-Rankovic, Rio 2016 class 4 gold medallist.
Overall 323 players have enrolled, a total f 288 men and 95 women.
2016 Czech Para Open: draws and full results
