AREQUIPA, Peru – Yunier Fernández became Cuba’s first ever table tennis champion during the ongoing Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Friday.
A report from the state media Cubadebate It indicates that the Cuban defeated the British Robert Davies in straight sets, which gave the Cuban delegation another gold medal.
Last Tuesday, Fernández won the first medal in the discipline for the largest of the Antilles in a Paralympic Games with a victory against the British Thomas Matthews, bronze in Tokyo 2020, by 3-1 and partial scores of 11-5, 10-12, 11-4 and 11-9.
He then entered the competition for the crown with a victory over the Italian Federico Falco by 3-2 and scores of 15-13, 11-6, 4-11, 6-12 and 11-2.
Yunier Fernández, 41, has been a medalist in all editions of the Parapan American Games since the 2007 Rio de Janeiro edition and has been a two-time champion, Lima 2019 and Santiago de Chile 2023.
Other Cubans in France also have a chance of a medal this Friday. These are the long jumper Felipa Hechavarría, class T46, and the para-swimmer Lorenzo Pérez, if he qualifies for the final of the 400-meter freestyle, category S6.
“Pérez has four Paralympic medals, one gold (100 in Rio 2016), one silver (50 in London 2012) and two bronze (100 in London 2012 and 400 in Rio 2016), all in the S6 freestyle class,” the report highlights.
This Thursday, the Island obtained a gold medal from sprinter Omara Durand and a bronze medal from javelin thrower Ulicer Aguilera.
Durand triumphed in the 100-meter dash, T12 category, his tenth gold in Paralympic events, and Aguilera debuted with a bronze medal in the F13 class and a personal best and American record of 62.51 meters.
With these two medals, Cuba rises to 24th place in the medal table by country, displaying four golds, two silvers and one bronze. The authorities of the Cuban regime aspire at least 10 medals at these Paralympic Games.
