- Germany's swimmer, Wetekam, secures the initial medal in swimming competitions.
Swimming triumphs and jubilation for the German ping-pong players in the South Paris Arena. Rookie swimmer Maurice Wetekam earned the German squad's first medal in the La Défense Arena's pool by coming in third in the 100m breaststroke. "Incredible! Unreal sensation," he exclaimed.
Valentin Baus and Thomas Schmidberger ensured a minimum silver medal by advancing to the finals in the men's doubles. They outperformed Abdullah Öztürk and Nesim Turan from Turkey 3:2 in a nail-biting encounter, setting up a gold medal showdown on Saturday (14:00 CEST).
Schmidberger, paralyzed from the waist down, reflected, "Another close encounter, can't complain." As in the previous round, it took the duo five sets to secure victory. Ziegler, the national coach, chuckled, "They're trying to agitate me or maybe entertain the crowd. Both strategies are working."
Unfortunately, Thomas Bruechle and Sandra Mikolaschek missed out on a medal after falling to Thailand's Wijittra Jaion and Yuttajak Glinbancheun in the quarter-finals by a razor-thin 2:3 margin.
The day ended without any medals for Tanja Scholz and Verena Schott. Schott managed to improve her initial time by six seconds, placing seventh in the 200m individual medley. "I'm the type of person who improves as competition progresses," stated the 35-year-old, whose training was hampered by a severe respiratory illness. However, she has further chances to impress.
Scholz, on the other hand, failed to improve and was forced to compete in a different category due to a lack of competition in her own category, practically eliminating her chances. "There's a lack of competitions in smaller start classes. More inclusion is essential for everyone to compete," she shared.
Unfortunate start
The women's wheelchair basketball team's debut was also discouraging, with Germany having no chance against the USA, resulting in a 44:73 (20:41) loss. Lisa Bergenthal, a 24-year-old player, admitted, "Perhaps it wasn't our day, but we've had days like this. We're confident that we can deliver our best in the next game."
However, the sitting volleyball team had a more promising start, winning against Brazil 3:0. Herzog, the national coach, commented, "I didn't anticipate that. We played to our potential today. It was a well-deserved win."
Germany also had success in the swimming competitions, with athletes earning several medals. In addition to Maurice Wetekam's bronze in the 100m breaststroke, the German swimming team also secured a spot in the finals of the men's 4x100m medley relay, ensuring a strong possibility of claiming a medal in that event.
