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More table tennis gold on offer for Aust

3 minute read

Australia will take on table tennis powerhouse China in the final of the men's teams event after Ma Lin came up trumps in a five-set thriller against Nigeria.

Australia have the chance to add two more table tennis gold medals to its Paralympic tally after both the men and women's teams won through to the final.

Ma Lin and Joel Coughlan combined to beat Nigeria 2-0 in the men's teams Class 9-10 semi-final on Wednesday to set up a gold medal showdown against powerhouse China.

In the women's Class 9-10, Lina Lei and Qian Yang beat China 2-0 to book a spot in the gold medal match against Poland.

Australia have already won two table tennis gold medals in Tokyo after Lei and Yang won their respective women's singles finals.

Their triumphs broke Australia's 37-year gold medal drought in Paralympic table tennis.

The prospect of Australia adding two more table tennis gold medals on Friday is a mouth-watering one.

Ma, a naturalised Australian, will have the chance to take down his former Chinese teammates after producing a heroic effort in the semi-final against Nigeria.

Coughlan and Ma won the doubles rubber three sets to one, before Ma backed up to win his singles match in a five-set thriller.

Ma came from two sets down to beat Tajudeen Agunbiade 8-11 9-11 11-3 11-9 11-8.

Coughlan wasn't needed for the other singles match given Australia already had an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie.

Ma had already won teams gold while competing for China in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Paralympics.

But this time he will be against the table tennis powerhouse after switching allegiances to Australia following Rio 2016.

Ma, who lost his right arm as a child when it was bitten off by a bear at a Chinese zoo, will now put an emphasis on recovery ahead of Friday's final instead of focussing on taking on his former teammates.

"For me, it doesn't matter who is standing on the other side of the table, they are all my opponents and I will do my best," he said.

"After the two matches yesterday I felt very tired today and I haven't recovered fully from yesterday. I just tried my best today and I didn't give up.

"I can recover properly for the final with a day off now."

Coughlan, a 33-year-old Paralympic debutant from North Queensland, is excited to be in the gold medal match.

"As we all know, in table tennis China is always the best. It is going to be a tough competition," Coughlan said.

"I faced one of them in my singles competition and got very close so hopefully this time we can get over the line."

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