THE Fiji Paralympic table tennis team has proven that everything is possible through hard work and determination after the team finished on a high note at the ITTF Oceania Championship which was held in Australia.
The side won one gold, three silver and one bronze medal in the championship.
Despite facing financial issues and without a national coach for some time now, the team had achieved a major milestone with this performance.
This was the first Paralympic national table tennis team to take part in an international tournament overseas.
Sainimili Naivalu paired with Mark Harris from Australia to win gold in the Class 3-5 doubles category while Mere Roden managed the silver.
Francis Chung settled for the bronze in the men’s doubles pairing Shaktick Devan Krishnan of New Zealand in the Class 3-5 category while John Tauni won silver in standing team’s event with James Swanbury of Australia in the Class 8 category.
In the Class 6-10 men’s singles for people with standing disability, Tauni had two very close matches against Victor Kamizona of New Zealand and Connor Holdback of Australia.
He lost to Kamizona two sets to three with the fifth and final set finishing at 10-12.
The team is currently undergoing four days of training and pennant competitions before returning home this weekend.
