Josephine Medina nears Tokyo Paralympic berth

Josephine Medina is close to making her third Paralympic Games appearance (ITTF photo)

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

Philippine national table tennis athlete Josephine Medina is an inch away from her third Paralympic Games for Tokyo 2021.

The silver-medalist during the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta is looking to clinch the gold and bring pride to the country after two short bids in the Paralympic stage.

After the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) sent an outright alternative invitation to Medina through the bipartite agreement, the Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC) is looking to process the papers for the invitation to be official.

PPC official Kiko Diaz first confirmed the information and he said that the ITTF will arrange things with the Tokyo Paralympic Games accreditation committee to officially put Medina’s name under the representative for the Philippines.

Medina will try to be the second Filipino to book a ticket to the Tokyo Paralympic Games after swimmer Ernie Gawilan clinched a spot early this year.

If all would fall into place, Medina would seek to continue intensive training and vanish the memories of her bronze medal finish last Paralympic Games in Rio De Janeiro in 2016.