Silver but a golden day for Brazilian table tennis at Beijing Paralympics

Source: Xinhua | 09-15-2008 16:43

BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Brazil had to wait almost 50 years but at last, won a table tennis medal in the Beijing Paralympic Games.

The South Americans lost 3-1 to France in the final of Class 3 men's team on Monday, grabbing their first ever Paralympic medal of any color in the sport.

"It's golden pride for me, a sliver medal," said Luiz Algacir Silva, a member of the Brazilian team. "It now means that in Brazil more people will pay attention to table tennis."

Silva dropped the opening rubber 3-2 against Jean-Philippe Robin before Welder Knaf drew levelled for Brazil by beating Florian Merrien by the same scoreline.

France regained the lead when Robin and Merrien won the doubles clash 3-1. Merrien then outclassed Silva 3-0 to hand France the title.

Alaor Azevedo, president of the Brazilian Table Tennis Federation, said that in light of their winless run at the world championships two years ago, it was a huge achivement.

"It's very important for us, ever since the Paralympics started we have never been strong in table tennis," said Azevedo. "Two years ago at the Montreux (Switzerland) world championships, we didn't win a single match."

The Brazilian team pulled off a major upset of the table tennis tournament as they edged powerhouse China 3-2 in the semifinal.

Editor:Zhang Ning