(by: Vlad Farcas)

Between March 8^th and March 11^th, US Para National Team Member, Ahad Sarand traveled to Platja D’Aro, Spain where he competed in the 2023 ITTF Para Costa Brava Spanish Open.

He came up 2^nd in group stage after having a 1-1 record with narrow defeat to Toru Nakamoto, a very strong Japanese player with a very difficult style and a 3 straight win against Indian player, Singh Abhishek Kumar.

Ahad started the single elimination phase with a solid win against another Japanese player in NAKAMURA Ryota. This brought Ahad a meeting with world ranked #9 player from Korea, Kim Yi-Young. Starting the game really confident due to previous win against this opponent (March 2022), Ahad found early success going up 2-0 and 7-3, but the Korean player’s extended top level experience played a big part as he leveled the match at 2 games each. In the deciding game both players went back and forth, in the end it was the American player who advance to semifinals. In semifinals Ahad played the reigning Paralympic champion and World Champion in Class 5, Valentin Baus, from Germany. It was indeed a great experience for Ahad, who although lost the match 3 games to 0, brought home a bronze medal in a very strong international event.

Sarand will participate this coming May in the ITTF Para Slovenian Open and ITTF Para Montenegro Open as he gears up for the Para Pan American Games which will take place in November in Chile.

Supporters of the US Para Table Tennis movement will be able to see their favorite players compete in home soil between July 3^rd and July 5^th in Fort Worth, TX at the 2023 ITTF US Para Open.

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