Tommy Urhaug or Cheng Ming-chih? That was the question before the final in the S5 class in table tennis in the Paralympics on Tuesday evening. It all ended up being a real gold thriller, which would only be decided in the fifth and final set. There, it was Urhaug who had the lead initially, before Cheng Ming-chuh gradually took control of the set after three straight points. Urhaug was down 5-7 with that, but then he himself answered with four straight points and went up to a 9-7 lead. Urhaug got a match point at 10-9. He won it after a wild exchange of balls and thus won gold in the Paralympics. Hit back after a bad start The two also met in the final of a tournament in Spain in March, where Urhaug had to see himself beaten. It was also the man from Taiwan who got the best start in Tuesday’s final. The first set ended with a superior 11-5 victory. – This was the start we did not hope for. Here are seven or eight simple mistakes from Tommy. He has not started with his normally strong offensive game, said news’s expert commentator Raymond Gonzales. In the second set, it looked like Urhaug was going to hit back hard. The Norwegian won the first six points and thus gained a clear advantage. Where Urhaug made the mistakes in the first set, it was Cheng Ming-chih who made the mistakes initially in the second set. But then it turned around and suddenly it was 7-7. From there onwards it was again Urhaug who made it work. The Norwegian won the next four points and leveled the set at 1-1. Decisive set The third set was even for a long time. Urhaug led 7-6 along the way, but then lost the next five points. Thus he lost the set, which meant that he had to win the fourth set to stay in the gold match. In the fourth set it was again even for a long time. When Urhaug took a 6-5 lead, the Taiwanese player took a timeout. Urhaug continued to play well after the timeout and eventually won the set 11-7. This meant that the whole thing had to be decided in a fifth and decisive set, where Urhaug proved to be the strongest. 24 years since the Paralympics debut Tommy Urhaug made his Paralympics debut at the age of 20, during the Sydney Games in 2000, one year after his career’s first two European Championship golds. In the years that have followed, he has mostly been at the top of the world in the S5 class in table tennis. The first (of four) WC gold came two years later. In 2008, she won bronze in the Paralympics, while the gold came four years later. Apart from EC gold in 2013 and 2015, there has been longer between the major tournament victories after the Paralympics victory in London. But in this year’s Paralympics, Urhaug has again shown his best side. After a walkover in the first round, he won the quarter-final against Frenchman Nicolas Savant-Aire 3-1 in sets. In the semi-final against Turkish Ali Öztürk, he was superb and won 3-0 in sets. Thus, only Cheng Ming-chih from Taiwan could prevent gold for Urhaug, in the final on Monday evening. And it ended with a Norwegian victory. Published 03/09/2024, at 21.43 Updated 03.09.2024, at 21.44
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Tommy Urhaug won gold in the Paralympics for the second time after a final thriller – Paralympics Paris 2024
