- Despite the shimmer of success, a sense of disappointment lingered - she finished fourth.
The Disappointment in Valentin Baus and Thomas Schmidberger's Table Tennis Doubles Performance was Pronounced, Winning Silver but Missing Gold
Valentin Baus and Thomas Schmidberger may have walked away with a silver medal in table tennis doubles, but they couldn't help feeling disappointed. They were bested by the Chinese pair of Feng Panfeng and Cao Ningning, losing 0:3 in Paris. "It bothers me that we couldn't perform to our full potential," Baus, who has brittle bone disease and uses a wheelchair, shared his frustrations.
The German duo showed some promise in the initial set, but the Chinese team proved their dominance from thereon. "Successfully securing gold depends on every piece falling into place," Baus explained. "After losing the first two sets, we aimed to regroup and push harder. However, we became too preoccupied with our own game," added Schmidberger, who is paralyzed from the waist down.
The enthusiastic crowd support from the German spectators couldn't help shift the momentum in Baus and Schmidberger's favor. They exited the competition with applause and gratitude for the experience. "Competing in front of such an enthusiastic crowd is truly special. The atmosphere was incredible," Baus reminisced.
Baus and Schmidberger will celebrate their silver medals before focusing on their individual competitions. In the past three years, Baus has clinched five gold medals at the Tokyo Paralympics, while Schmidberger bagged silver in class three. "Now is the time to shift our attention to the individual competitions. The tournament is still ongoing," Schmidberger said.
Cycling Brings Joy to Hausberger
Just before that, Maike Hausberger secured a bronze medal in the women's 500m time trial cycling event at the Velodrome. This marked her first Paralympic medal in her third participation, as well as the third for the German delegation in Paris. Gold went to Amanda Reid of Australia and silver to Wangwei Qian of China.
"I'm incredibly happy and proud to have finally secured a medal," Hausberger expressed her feelings. "I reviewed my performance multiple times, gave it my all, and it was just enough."
Hausberger, who had competed in athletics in the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics, qualified for the final as the third-best performer. She came close to winning a medal in the 3000m pursuit, but just missed the cut.
Swimming Delivers a Surprise
Mira Jeanne Maack clinched bronze in the women's 100m backstroke in 1:18.36 minutes. "I can't believe it," the 20-year-old from Berlin exclaimed. "I've accomplished my goal, something I've been working towards for three years."
Unfortunately, the German boccia team was eliminated from the tournament. Both Boris Nicolai and Anita Raguwaran fell short of reaching the quarterfinals after winning one and losing two matches in the group stage. "We'll analyze our performance and see where we could have improved," coach Tobias Weber said.
Despite their best efforts, the circular cross-section of Baus and Schmidberger's table tennis strategy needed more refinement, leading to their inconsistent performance. Regardless, they agreed that the strength and strategy of their opponents, particularly in the final sets, was a crucial factor in their defeat.
