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Von Einem wins table tennis silver again

3 minute read

Australian Sam Von Einem wanted to go one better in Tokyo after his breakthrough Paralympics table tennis silver medal five years ago.

Silver lacked the sheen of five years ago for Australian table tennis star Sam Von Einem.

The 26-year-old from Adelaide saved three match points on Sunday before world No.1 Hungarian Peter Palos beat him 3-2 for the Class 11 gold medal.

Von Einem's silver in Rio was the first medal Paralympics table tennis medal for Australia in 32 years.

"Two silvers is amazing and if you told me that I'd get two silvers when I first started, I'd would have taken it with both hands," Von Einem said.

"This silver, I thought I could go that one more, but it wasn't meant to be."

Von Einem said Palos was more composed when it counted in the final.

"He's won it before, so he used that experience to his advantage and I'm trying to chase my first one," Von Einem said of the London gold medallist.

"It's a huge challenge to try to get over the world No.1 in the final.

"I just got a bit too tight in the end, a few unforced errors, a few good balls from him - that's the difference."

Von Einem is one of four Australians who have made singles finals at Tokyo.

Ma Lin, who lost his right arm to a bear when he was a child, won silver on Saturday.

On Monday, Yang Qian will play for the Class 10 gold medal and five-time Paralympic champion Lei Lina is in the Class Nine gold medal game.

Like Von Einem, the two women won singles silver at Rio.

Ma, Yang and Lei all moved to Australia after competing at the Rio Games.

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