Paris 2024 Paralympics Sharpen The Experience Of Leli Marlina

JAKARTA Indonesian table tennis athlete, Leli Marlina, has a big ambition to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics after honing her experience in Paris this year.

Marlina, who came to France as a debutant in the women's singles number TT5 classification, was held in the last eight against Chinese representative Zhang Bian.

The defeat must be understood because 38-year-old Zhang is a table tennis legend classified by TT5. He has recorded seven gold medals, both singles and doubles, since participating in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

In the duel against Zhang, Marlina's fierce resistance was only seen in the first set. He then gave up 0-3 (10-12, 5-11 and 4-11) in a duel that took place at the South Paris Arena on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, early morning WIB.

"It was an incredible match. He is the number one athlete in this class. The placement of the Chinese player's ball is good," Marlina said in a statement received.

Marlina said that her experience in tasting the atmosphere of the 2024 Paralympics further thickened her motivation to aim for the upcoming four-year Paralympic tickets.

"I didn't expect to be at this point. In the future, I will practice even harder so that the quality of my game can be better. I also need to prepare mentally," he said.

The coach of Indonesian table tennis, Andre Gunaya, confirmed the words of his team. He said that the Paris 2024 Paralympics would certainly provide a lot of valuable experiences for Marlina.

"In this match, Leli has tried. It's just that Leli lost her flight hours and it must be admitted that Chinese athletes are superior in skills. Coming home from here (Paris), we got a lot of evaluation materials," said Andre.

Indonesia has sent a total of 35 athletes to the 2024 Paralympics. Marlina is also the only representative of table tennis to qualify for Paris.

Until now, the Red-White Contingent has collected a total of 12 medals. The details are one gold medal, five silver medals, and one bronze medal.