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Surprise defeats and a close call for Mateja Pintar
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Players who had emerged successful four years earlier at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games were in form on Day 2 of the Table Tennis competition at the PKU Gymnasium with three notable exceptions.

Germany 's Holger Nikelis and Walter Kilger, the respective gold and bronze medalists at the Athens Games in the Men's Individual - Class 1 experienced the bitter taste of defeat in their opening matches.

Nikelis was beaten by Lee Hae-kon of the Republic of Korea, while Andreas Vevera of Austria, the No.1 seed, defeated Kilger.

Frenchman Stephane Messi, Athen's gold medalist in the Men's Individual - Class 7, was beaten by Mitchell Siedenfeld of the United States.

In the Women's Individual - Class 3 event, Mateja Pintar of Slovenia, the No. 1 seed and Athens gold medalist, came close to defeat. She trailed Fanny Bertrand of France by two games to nil in her group contest before recovering to secure victory.

Natalia Partyka of Poland, the No.1 seed in Women's Individual - Class 10, dominated her opponents. The 19 year old has also competed in the Olympic Games and beat China's Hou Chunxiao and Li Yuqiang without losing a single game.

Clara Podda of Italy, the No. 1 seed, and Isabelle Lafaye-Marziou of France, the reigning champion, retained their unbeaten records in the Women's Individual - Class 1/2 as did Ren Guixiang of China and Andrea Zimmerer of Germany in Class 5.

In the Women's Individual - Class 8, China's Zhang Xiaoling, the Athens gold medalist (Class 6/8) remained unbeaten as did the No. 1 seed, Thu Kamkasomphou of France. While China dominated the Women's Individual - Class 9, Athen's gold and silver medalists Liu Meili and Lei Lina of China.

The Men's Individual - Class 2 event saw Jan Riapos of Slovakia succeed on both visits to the table overcoming Gao Yanming of China and ROK's Kim Kyung-mook, while ROK's Kim Kong-yong, the Athens silver medalist, defeated Sergey Poddubnyy of Russia and Stephane Molliens of France.

In Men's Individual - Class 6 there was success for the gold medalist from Athens, Daniel Arnold Germany who beat Vjekoslav Gregorovic of Croatia.

(BOCOG September 9, 2008)

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