- Competitor Wetekamsecures a bronze and silver medal in table tennis competitions
Swimming triumph: Paralympics newcomer Maurice Wetekam notched the German squad's inaugural pool medal at the La Défense Arena. The 18-year-old, afflicted by a left arm limb deformity, placed third in the 100m breaststroke. "This is unbelievable, it's an extraordinary sensation," he shared.
It was silver instead of gold for table tennis stars Stephanie Grebe and Juliane Wolf. They fell short in the final match against Wenjuan Huang and Yucheng Jin from China 1:3, but still left Paris with a smile. Grebe/Wolf squandered opportunities, but recaptured their composure by the event's end.
Baus/Schmidberger, their teammates, also ensured a Paris departure with at least silver. They emerged victorious against Abdullah Öztürk and Nesim Turan from Turkey in a nail-biting 3:2 contest. On Saturday at 14:00, they'll face off for gold in the final duel.
"It was another close battle. So far, it's been a success," noted Schmidberger, who suffers from spinal cord injury below his waist. Much like their quarterfinals game, the German duo needed five sets to triumph. "They seem to be trying to irritate me or perhaps entertain the crowd," joked coach Volker Ziegler.
Preparation struggles
The day didn't yield a medal for swimmers Tanja Scholz and Verena Schott. Schott ranked seventh in the 200m individual medley, improving her preliminary time by six seconds. "I am the type that improves as the race progresses," explained the 35-year-old, whose training was undermined by a severe respiratory illness. She still has possibilities to shine.
Scholz placed eighth, but swam in a different category due to a lack of competitors in her own, where she had minimal chances. "There are too few races in the small start classes. More inclusion is required to enable everyone to swim," stated Schott.
Unfortunate debut
The women's wheelchair basketball team's debut performance was also unfavorable. They struggled against the USA and suffered a 73:44 (41:20) loss. "Perhaps it wasn't our day, but that's okay. We trust in our abilities to show what we're capable of in the following game," shared 24-year-old Lisa Bergenthal. She criticized their team's poor judgment calls and unfortunate luck.
The sitting volleyball team, however, started on a positive note, defeating Brazil 3:0. "I wasn't anticipating this," declared coach Christoph Herzog following the surprising victory. "We seized our opportunity. It was a merited triumph."
France was the host country for these exciting Para sports events. Despite their best efforts, the German swimmer Tanja Scholz missed out on a medal in her event in France.
