Paul Arif Karabardak (born 3 October 1985) is a

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para table tennis Para table tennis is a parasports which follows the rules set by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The usual table tennis rules are in effect with slight modifications for wheelchair athletes. Athletes from disability groups can ...

player who has competed in three

Summer Paralympics The Summer Paralympics also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral ...

Biography

Karabardak was a keen footballer when he was a child but he suffered from a massive stroke aged 10, he played table tennis after his stroke in a local youth club.

Sporting career

Aged 16 in 2001, Karabardak was chosen to participate in the GB Para Table Tennis Team in

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for the European Championships. He won his first national medal along with David Hope, a bronze in the teams' event. He continued to win two silver medals and two bronze medals in the team events. In 2017, in Lasko,

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, Karabardak won his first ever European gold medal with David Wetherill and Martin Perry after defeating

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in the final.

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

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were Karabardak's first Paralympic Games. He lost in the group stage of the tournament after losing to two matches and winning one. In the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

, he was second in his group by winning against Kim Young Sung and losing to bronze medalist

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. At his third games in

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, he was bottom of his group and didn't advance to the final rounds.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karabardak, Paul 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Swansea Paralympic table tennis players for Great Britain Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Paralympic medalists in table tennis