Qian Yang

Qian Yang started playing table tennis at age five and by the age of 17 was a Paralympic gold medalist for China.

Hailing from Qingjian County in Shaanxi, Qian also won a silver medal at London before claiming another two silver medals at Rio in 2016. Qian has also won multiple titles at the Asian Para Games and Asian Championships, establishing herself as one of the world’s premier Para-table tennis players.

Following Rio, Qian moved to Australia, registered with Table Tennis Australia and began her quest to bring glory to Australia’s Para-table tennis program, starting with the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

At the Games, Yang won gold in the women’s singles class 10 event, clinching an exhilarating victory against Bruna Costa Alexandre of Brazil 3-1 (13-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9). The gold was the fifth Paralympic medal of her career.

In the women’s team class 9-10 event, Yang teamed up with Lina Lei and Melissa Tapper to take on Polish pair Natalia Partyka and Karolina Pek in the gold medal final.

The Aussies collected a record-breaking silver after conceding defeat in two matches to the duo. Yang paired up with Lei in the opening doubles match, losing 3-2 (11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9).

Yang went on to play Partyka in the singles match, however, she was unable to find an edge over her opponent, going down 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-5).

The silver was one for the record books, as it was the fifth medal for the Australian Para-table tennis team, surpassing Australia’s previous record of four medals that were won at the Tokyo 1964 Paralympic Games.