The TOKYO 2020 Paralympic Games, held in the Japanese capital during the period 24 August – 5 September 2021, celebrated, Ibrahim Hamadtou, the Egyptian who plays table tennis with his mouth.
“The Egyptian (Hamadtou) plays without arms and holds the bat in his mouth. He fires winning return shots with real power too,” the Paralympic Games tweeted, with video of Hamadtou during a game.
“Ibrahim Hamadtou shows some real table tennis talent,” it added.
On the first day of events at the Tokyo Paralympics onWednesday, Hamadtou was in action, making his second appearance at the quadrennial mega event, after Rio 2016.
Hamadtou, 47, was one of major inspirational images of the in Rio five years before, with his gameplay of holding the racket between his teeth and flicking the ball up with his foot to serve.
He plays with his bat in his mouth and uses his right foot and toes to serve.
When Hamadtou was ten years old, he lost both arms in a train accident and decided to take table tennis as a challenge.
He was quoted as saying that it took him almost a year of practice to get used to holding the racket with mouth and making the serve. The skill was improved thanks to continued practice.
He worked as a carpenter in the Egyptian Mediterranean City of Damietta, and aspires for having his own carpentry workshop. He said he never expected that he can make such an achievement.
The Egyptian mission to the Paralympic Games includes49 athletes competing in eight sports.
In 2014, a video of Ibrahim Hamatdou posted by the table tennis governing body on YouTube garnered widespread fame on the internet.
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