Day 1 of the Paralympic Games saw crowds of fans cheering on our Paralympic athletes as they battle it out for a spot in the later rounds. The atmosphere in the stadium was electrifying with the sound of roaring applause, waves of colourful banners, and the sheer energy of anticipation filling the air.
The opening morning of Paris 2024 saw the stadium filled with men’s and women’s doubles action for the first time since 1976.
In the Class 3 Men’s Doubles quarterfinals, France’s Fabien Lamirault and Julien Michaud gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about by defeating the Polish pair, Rafal Crupper and Tomasz Jakimczuk, in a thrilling, back-and-forth match that went the distance (11-3, 7-11, 14-12, 7-11, 11-9). With this victory, they booked their place in the semifinals and secured a medal.
‘It was just amazing, just incredible. Everyone was cheering for our table and it was the most incredible and I hope it will be the same for the next one. It was my fourth Paralympics game and to play at the home with this crowd on fire. For the French delegation, it was just incredible and I think Ive never seen before and I think we’ll probably never see again.’ Lamirault
In the Class 14 Women’s Doubles, China’s Huang Wenjuan and Jin Yucheng and Germany’s Stephanie Grebe and Juliane Wolf have secured their spot in the gold medal match tomorrow, dispatching Great Britain’s Felicity Packard and Bly Twomey (6-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-6) and Hungary’s Aida Music Dahlen and Merethe Tveiten (11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5).
Whilst not getting the result they hoped for, Packard and Twomey have secured bronze making Twomey at just 14 years of age, one of the youngest ever Paralympic table tennis medalists.
‘It’s been incredible playing with Bly and our performance to get the bronze medal. A little disappointing with the result this evening but I think we can take a lot of pride in what we achieved and our performance out there today. The atmosphere has just been absolutely incredible, I think we were prepared for the crowds but nothing like this and I think we’ve used it today and really taken it on board and use to propel us forward.’ Packard
‘It feels amazing I didn’t think I would get a medal this young and I was really surprised today.’ Twomey
In an historic moment, Paris saw mixed doubles introduced for the first time in Paralympic history.
Making her 7th Paralympic Games appearance in Para table tennis, Slovakia’s Alena Kanova paired up with Boris Travnicek to dispatch Egypt’s Khaled Ramadan and Fawzia Elshamy in straight sets to claim their spot in the next round.
‘I think here in the hall is very good atmosphere. All the people here and I compare it to Tokyo and it was Covid time and without spectators. It was our first match in Mixed Doubles – the first time at a Paralympics. I was happy because all my family is here and now we have to concentrate for the second match in the evening. I like this mixed game and mixed doubles.’ Kanova
Brazilian pair Filipe Manor Luis and Danielle Rauen shocked crowds defeating Japan’s Koro Iwabuchi and Yuri Tomono (11-9, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6) and booking their place into the quarter finals in the Class 17 Mixed Doubles.
‘We try playing with strategy and some points were difficultbut we have a good mindset along the game. The game is so important for us against Japan. It was a difficult game especially at an event like the Paralympics. We tried our best and the we won and this is the most important part. We now prepare for the next game tomorrow and we hope we can keep the same strategy and mindset.
Playing mixed doubles at the Paralympics is very nice and we really enjoy it. We’ve had the friendship for a long time since 2013 and it’s nice to stay in the village together and play together. It’s very special to us that we can play mixed doubles together.’ Luis and Rauen
Over the next two days, competition will continue in Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed Doubles, with a total of ten prestigious doubles medals on the line.
