Taiwan’s Cheng Ming-chih and Lin Yen-hung on Friday won the silver medal in the men’s team table tennis event at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after being defeated by South Korea 1-2.
In the first round of the men’s team class 4-5 gold medal match, the Taiwanese team lost in the doubles phase to South Korea 1-3.
Cheng then won a singles match in the second round of team competition 3-1 (11:8, 11:7, 9:11, 11:5), while Lin lost in the third round in the other singles match 0-3 (7:11, 7:11, 3:11).
Cheng said after the matches that this was his first time competing in the Paralympics, and he was only hoping to win a medal and had not expected to enter the finals.
He said that he was very happy to take the silver, adding that he hopes to compete in the Asian Para Games in Indonesia in 2018 and at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.
Cheng was selected as a national table tennis player when he was a teenager, but he had his legs amputated five years ago after a car accident. He only picked up the Paralympic sport after being encouraged by his friends and family members.
Taiwan sent 13 athletes to compete in six sports — archery, athletics, judo, powerlifting, table tennis and wheelchair tennis — in this year’s Paralympic Games in Rio.
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