Consecutive Greek participations in international Para Table Tennis tournaments

Consecutive tournaments for athletes with disabilities include on the first 15th day of March the program of the World Table Tennis Federation and Greece will be represented in all of them! The one event, in fact, is by invitation and it is of particular importance that a sportsman and a sportswoman from our country were included in it!

From tomorrow, Wednesday 06 to 09/03, the ITTF Para Open 2024 of Italy will take place in Lignano and Giorgos Mouchthis of class 6 (of the uprights) will take part. The ITTF Costa Brava Spanish Para Open 2024 will take place in the period 11-14/03. It will be held in Platja d’Aro and Mukhtis have again registered to participate in class 6 and Evanthia-Irini Bournia in class 3 (of wheelchair athletes).

In Singapore, World Table Tennis, in the big event – a celebration for the sport, which it is preparing with the Singapore Smash (in which Panagiotis Gionis will compete) also included an individual Para TT tournament for classes 6 and 7 (standing) with cash prizes ! He will hold it on the three days 12-14/03, he gave it the name WTT Singapore Smash Para Showcase and it is honorable that within the 12 entries he also selected two Greeks, Mario Hatzikyriakos of class 6 and Maria-Ismini Kaipi of classes 7-8 .

At the ITTF Para Open 2024 in Lignano Sabbiadoro all individual events are on the program. Mukhtis, the European runner-up in the men’s team in 2019, will start his effort from the singles group of class 6, while he is on the list of athletes who, for now at least, do not have a partner in men’s doubles or mixed doubles. Competition manager of the games is Giorgos Seliniotakis.

At the ITTF Para Open 2024 in Spain in Platja d’Aro, all the individual events are also taking place, as we are also in the year of the Paralympic Games and the double mixed has replaced the team in the program. Mukhtis and Bournia will first participate in the singles groups of classes 6 and 3 respectively, while appearing without a teammate in doubles. Bournia, current “bronze” singles champion in the World and European championships, will be coached by Lidia Ignatovic, who is on the PASKA coaching staff. Both the Italian and Spanish tournaments are of the FA20 level. The world Pre-Olympic tournament will take place in May, but the venue has not yet been decided.

A special case is, as we mentioned above, the Singapore Smash Para Showcase, and World Table Tennis specifically states: “In the new great legacy it wants to create, the Singapore Smash will offer the exciting Singapore Smash Para Showcase. From March 12 to 14, Infinity ? Arena and Hall 2 at the Singapore Sports Hub will become the battleground where determination meets skill in the world of Paralympic table tennis. With a prize pool of US$29,500, this three-day spectacle will feature 12 top players in the men’s and women’s categories, competing in a combined 6 and 7 singles division.’ Hatzikyriakos, who had competed in the 2021 Paralympic Games in Tokyo and generally has many international distinctions in class 6, was selected among 12 athletes. Kaipi, who has a few years of international presence and is on the rise, appears on the WTT website among 10 athletes from classes 6 and 7. She is already in Singapore and will offer her services throughout the great 11-day event (07-17 /03) the professional referee of WTT Tina Crotta.