Six Syrian athletes taking part in Tokyo Olympics
Tokyo Olympics 2021 kicked off in the Japanese capital on Friday with the participation of six Syrian athletes.
More than 11300 athletes from 207 countries are to compete within 33 games in this event, which will last until August 8th.
The six Syrian athletes are the table tennis player Hind Zaza, the youngest Tokyo Olympian at 12 years old, swimmer Ayman Kazlaiyah, the Triathlon player Mohammad Massou, the high jumper Majd Eddin Ghazal, the equestrian Ahmed Hamsho and the weightlifter Maan Asa’ad.
The 12-year-old table tennis player Hind Zaza today played her first match in the preliminary round of the women’s singles competition against the Austrian player Liu Jia, 39, who ranks 108th in the table tennis world ranking.
Zaza lost the match as the Austrian player won the four rounds 4-11, 9-11, 3-11 and 5-11.
“It was very tough to be prepared for the Olympics but I think I somehow managed to overcome this, and this is the part that I think I did the best during the match,” Zaza told reporters following her defeat.
“The main lesson was the loss of this match, especially in the first match. So next time, I will be working hard to pass the first, second, third round, because I want to play more in this competition,” she added.
Hamda Mustafa