PATTAYA/HELMOND – Para table tennis player Frederique van Hoof, supporting member of our club, will not participate in the Paralympic Games next summer. Three years ago she won silver in the team tournament together with Kelly van Zon, but this year the 23-year-old from Helmond was unable to get a ticket for Paris. During the Paralympic Qualifying Tournament (PKT), she lost in the semi-finals.
Van Hoof had to win the PKT in Thailand in handicap class 8 to obtain a ticket for the Paralympic Games in Paris. Although she reached the semi-finals convincingly, she lost 3-0 to Elena Litvinenko, who plays under a neutral flag from Russia. This means that the road to Paris is definitively closed for Van Hoof.
“Unfortunately it didn't work out today and that's very disappointing,” she wrote on her Instagram page. “This means no ticket for the Paralympic Games. There is also no option to request a wildcard this time. For now this means a lot of disappointment, but in the meantime I will focus on the next four years, towards the Games in Los Angeles.”
