- Bronze medal in table tennis doubles category secured by Hausberger in silver contest
Valentin Baus and Thomas Schmidberger, Germany's table tennis doubles team, fell short of claiming the country's initial gold at the Paralympics. In the final held in Paris, they ended up losing to China's duo of Feng Panfeng and Cao Ningning, finishing with a silver medal. The defeat marked Baus' third Paralympic medal, as he participates using a wheelchair due to osteogenesis imperfecta. Meanwhile, Schmidberger, who is paralyzed from the waist down, bagged his fifth.
The opening set was a close affair, with the Chinese pair winning it 9:11. Despite the home crowd's encouragement, Baus and Schmidberger found it challenging to regain their stride. The second game was a comfortable win for their opponents, ending at 5:11. Unfortunate circumstances prevailed in the third set as well, with the German duo conceding defeat 5:11. This marked the second Paralympic medal for Germany's para-table tennis team, following the silver won by Stephanie Grebe and Juliane Wolf in the women's doubles event.
Earlier in the tournament, Maike Hausberger clinched a bronze medal in the women's 500m time trial cycling event. Born with hemiplegia on the left side of her body, the 29-year-old from Trier bagged her first Paralympic medal, making it the third achievement for Germany's team in Paris. Herself, Hausberger expressed her satisfaction and pride, stating, "I'm incredibly proud and pleased as punch that I finally obtained a medal. I visualized myself going through the race, gave it my all - and it paid off."
Australia's Amanda Reid snatched the top spot, while China's Wangwei Qian took second. Hausberger finished just 1.682 seconds behind the winner. Confidently qualifying for the final as the third fastest competitor, Hausberger narrowly missed out on a medal in the 3000m pursuit event earlier.
Despite their best efforts, Valentin Baus and Thomas Schmidberger continued to struggle in the remaining sets of the table tennis match, ultimately losing 9:11, 5:11, 5:11 to Feng Panfeng and Cao Ningning. Despite this setback, table tennis remained a strong suit for Germany's para-athletes, as Maike Hausberger earned a bronze medal in the women's 500m time trial cycling event earlier in the tournament.
