Article by: anees

Maki Ito won the first bronze medal of a Japanese player in the Paralympic table tennis intellectual disability class.

Maki Ito plays a style in which the racket is gripped uniquely and the backhand is used to play irregular rotations to play with the opponent. Although she lost in the qualifying league in the World Final Qualifying held in Slovenia in June 2021, she was selected as a representative by the International Paralympic Committee and the International Table Tennis Federation. Participated in the second Paralympic Games following the previous Rio Games.

Ito, who has participated in two consecutive tournaments, advanced to the semi-finals with her first Paralympic victory in the second match of the qualifying league. She played against Rhea Ferne of France. Ito allowed 4 consecutive points from the lead development in the 1st game and dropped the 2nd game following this game. In the third game, which had no time left, she took 5 consecutive points from the scene where he allowed the lead with 5 to 9 but dropped it with 10 to 12. Although she lost with a game count of 0 to 3, table tennis became a bronze medal because there was no third-place playoff. August 28, 2021