Australian table tennis star Ma Lin has finally broken his duck against world No.6 Mohamed Kalem on the way to booking a quarter-final berth at the Paralympics in Tokyo.
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Lin, the world No.3 who lost his right arm as a child in a bear attack, had never been able to produce a win over Italian star Kalem.
When the two met in the quarter-finals of the Rio Paralympics in 2016, Lin went down in a five-set thriller, with the result costing him the chance to defend his gold medal.
But he got a slice of revenge on Thursday when he posted a 11-4 11-6 11-9 victory in his second pool game.
The result gave Lin two wins from two appearances in Tokyo, and he secured a quarterfinal berth later in the day with a straight sets victory over Chee Chaoming
"I feel really good, I played really well today because I had a good preparation thanks to our team who had the match analysis for me," Lin said after the win over Kalem.
"Everything feels perfect, I am in good form and in a good mood."
Rio silver medallist Sam von Einem bounced back from his opening-round loss to secure a three-sets victory over Korea's world No.5 Gi Tae Kim.
Von Einem won 11-5 11-8 11-9 to secure the much-needed win.
"I'm really excited,' von Einem said.
"Into the match I thought, 'I just need a win, and if I get through 3-nil that'll be a huge bonus'.
"I thought I executed really well. Did everything we talked about, kept my mind in it point by point and I was lucky enough to come through with a three-nil win, which is huge."
Australian Paralympic debutant Joel Coughlan also bounced back from an opening-round loss to defeat Alani Olufmi in straight sets.
"I'm pumped, elated to get my first win at the Paralympic Games," he said.
"Off the back of my game yesterday I played really well, so I was actually a lot more calm going into today's game ... less nervous and more confident, so I could go out there and play my game and get on top of him."
The news wasn't so good for Dani di Toro, who suffered her second straight-sets loss in as many days in the women's draw.
The Australian co-captain, who is competing at her seventh Paralympics but just her second in table tennis, lost to Nada Matic 11-5 11-8 11-7 in 21 minutes.
Australian Associated Press
