Our Best Ever - 2022 World Para Championships Wrap

The 2022 World Para Championships were played in Spain from 6-12 November.

After seven days of competition, our Australian team delivered our best ever results in the rich history of the event finishing with an incredible six medals - two gold, two silver and two bronze.

The results are significant given they backed up the record breaking results at the Tokyo Paralympic Games - in Tokyo we were the hunters, now we are the hunted. Despite this, through detailed planning and thorough preparation, our team acquitted themselves with distinction once again.

Of course medals at international benchmark events are crucially important, but over and above this, we saw many team members recording strong performances and career best victories. Then of course the tremendous team spirit and camaraderie was on full display once again, which undoubtedly gives our team an edge over other countries.

TTA CEO Scott Houston commented, "I couldn't be prouder of the team and their results. This further underlines that we have a genuinely world class para program who are consistently delivering genuinely world class results.

"The ongoing growth of the program in recent years under the leadership of Sue Stevenson and Alois Rosario, with exceptional assistance from all other coaches and support staff, is something the Australian table tennis community can be immensely proud of.

"Of course, the players deserve full credit. They all sacrifice a lot to give themselves the best chance of success and they have once again been outstanding ambassadors for Australian table tennis."

General Manager - National Para Program, Sue Stevenson proudly stated, "what amazing results our Australian Para Team have had. Six medals is our best ever result at the World Para Championships. I cannot be more proud of our team and how much they supported each other throughout the event. A lot of credit must also go to our coaching staff in Alois Rosario, Maggie Meng and George Logothetis, plus our support staff, who did a magnificent job supporting all of the athletes. Our results show we are well and truly on track for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games."

National Head Coach - Para, Alois Rosario was as humble as ever, commenting "I am proud of the efforts of the team. We are constantly looking to improve on and off the table. We have taken another step forward during this World Para Championships".

Thorough congratulations to all involved.

A summary of Australian results from the event are:

EVENT RESULTS
Class 11 Men's Singles
Sam von Einem (SA) - Round of 16
Rory Carroll (VIC) - Round of 32
Class 10 Women's Singles
Qian Yang (VIC) - GOLD MEDAL
Melissa Tapper (VIC) - Quarter Final
Class 9 Men's Singles
Lin Ma (VIC) - BRONZE MEDAL
Class 9 Women's Singles
Lina Lei (VIC) - SILVER MEDAL
Class 8 Men's Singles
Nathan Pellissier (VIC) - Quarter Final
Class 7 Men's Singles
Jake Ballestrino (VIC) - Round of 16
Class 6 Men's Singles
Trevor Hirth (VIC) - Round of 16
Class 6 Women's Singles
Rebecca Julian (VIC) - Round of 16
Class 4 Men's Singles
Caleb Crowden (SA) - Round of 16
Class 4 Women's Singles
Danni Di Toro (VIC) - Round of 16
Class 3 Men's Singles
Jessy Chen (NSW) - Round of 32
Class 3 Women's Singles
Amanda Tscharke (SA) - Round of 32
Class 2 Women's Singles
Hayley Sands (SA) - Quarter Final
Men's Doubles 22
Rory Carroll/Sam von Einem - 4th place
Women's Doubles 20
Lina Lei/Qian Yang - GOLD MEDAL
Men's Doubles 18
Lin Ma/Nathan Pellissier - Round of 16
Men's Doubles 14
Jake Ballestrino/Trevor Hirth - Quarter Final Men's Doubles 8 Jessy
Chen/Caleb Crowden - Round of 16 Women's Doubles 5 Hayley Sands/Amanda
Tscharke - Group Stage Mixed Doubles 20 Lin Ma/Qian Yang - SILVER MEDAL
Mixed Doubles 17 Nathan Pellissier/Lina Lei - BRONZE MEDAL Mixed Doubles 14
Jake Ballestrino/Rebecca Julian - Round of 16 Mixed Doubles 7 Jessy
Chen/Danni Di Toro - Quarter Final

Full results are available at:
https://www.ittf.com/tournament/5360/andalucia-2022-world-para-table-tennis-championships/#information