BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The table tennis
tournament at the Beijing Paralympics wrapped up its individual events here on
Thursday as China won four more golds, making its total to eight.
The tournament is divided into 10 classes depending
on their disabilities. The smaller the number is, the more severe the disability
is.
The individual events offered 16 gold medals - eight
each for men and women -- after combining several classes into the same
categories.
In men's competitions, Chinese Ge Yang beat his
teammate Ma Lin in men's class 10 match 3-1, winning his first Paralympic
title.
"Mom, dad, I made it! I love you!" Ge burst into
tears when he called his family in the mixed zone.
"In 2004, I had a very good chance to win the gold,
but I failed, and I have prepared for four years for this moment. During the
past four years, I have thought about retiring. I have been through a lot, but I
finally made it.
"I am the most hard-working on the team. I know I am
not a born table tennis player, and I know I can only improve with tremendous
efforts and practice," Ge said.
Chinese Chen Gang in men's class 8 won a gold medal
earlier, beating Poland's Piotr Grudzien 3-1.
"Words are not enough to describe the importance of
this gold to me," said Chen, who had been a semi-pro table tennis player before
he lost his left leg in a car accident.
In the morning's action, Chinese Feng Panfeng
triumphed in the men's class 2 final and then dedicated the gold to his coach
Heng Xin.
"My coach and I have been working together for over
nine years," he said.
Chinese Ye Chaoqun in men's class 7 won a silver,
following a 3-1 loss to German Jochen Wollmert.
In the women's class 9 final, Lei Lina downed Liu
Meili 3-0 in an all-Chinese championship match.
Five-time Paralympic gold medalist in women's class
8, 51-year-old Zhang Xiaoling, won a bronze for China after beating French
Claire Mairie 3-0.
Mairie's teammate, Thu Kamkasomphou helped France win
the first gold in the tournament, while Christophe Durand and Vincent Boury
added two for France.
Russian Natalia Martyasheva and Yulia Ovsyannikova
finished 1-2 in women's class 6-7 competition.
Martyasheva said after the match that it was a
"magnificent performance for her," as her teammate had much more international
experience than she did.
"They (the gold and silver medals) are very important
because table tennis used to be dominated by Asian countries, and there are
Chinese and Korean players in the category," Russian coach Nikolay Kirpichnikov
said.
"It is important for Russia to have two players in
the same final match. It was absolutely a surprise for me," he added.
A seven-time Paralympics veteran, German Rainer
Schmidt, finished fourth in men's class 6 in his last international competition.
The 43-year-old has decided to retire after the Beijing Games.
Schmidt, who made his Paralympic debut in 1984 in New
York, had collected four golds and four silvers in the past six Games.
China tops the table tennis tally with 15 medals
including eight golds, followed by France in five and Germany in three.
The team events will take place on
Saturday.