Tokyo Paralympics 2020: Who is Ibrahim Hamadtou? Table Tennis ace who plays with his mouth

Egyptian Para Table Tennis Champion Ibrahim Hamadtou is currently competing in Paralympic Games for the second time in his career. Hamadtou garnered fame across the world after a video of him was posted by the World Table Tennis Championships in 2014. At the age of 10, Hamadtou lost both his arms in a train accident. His unique style of serving the ball with his right foot and playing with the bat in his mouth earned a lot of appreciation from sports lovers.

Ibrahim Hamadtou - The perfect example of 'Nothing is Impossible'

Competing at the 2016 African Championships, Hamadtou finished second and earned qualification to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. He finished the campaign in ninth place in the team event and 11th in the singles event in the Class 6 category of Table Tennis in Paralympic games. As mentioned by Hamadtou in an interview with CNN, he grew up in his village playing soccer and table tennis. However, he took up table tennis as a challenge to himself.

The 48-year-old Hamadtou has an appreciation award to his name under the 6th edition of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award for the category of athletes who have achieved success in sports despite facing major humanitarian challenges. He earned this prestigious award after finishing second and winning the silver medal during the African Para Table Tennis Championships in December 2013.

After starting his Tokyo Paralympics 2020 campaign on August 25, Hamadtou received much appreciation and respect for his style of play. He lost his Class 6 qualifier to South Korea’s Park Hong-kyu in straight sets, 11-6, 11-4, 11-9. However, he earned thousands of new fans with his inspiring story and performance.

He will next play against China’s Chen Chao on Friday. Indian table tennis player Bhavina Patel started her Tokyo Paralympics 2020 campaign with a win against UK’s Megan Shackleton 11-7, 9-11,17-15,13-11 in her Class 4, Group A match. On the other hand, Sonalben Patel will play against South Korea’s Lee Mi-gyu on Thursday in Group D of Women's singles Class 3. Meanwhile, Tek Chand will play in the finals of the Men’s shot put F55 event looking for India’s maiden gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 on Friday.

(Image Source: AP)