At his seventy, Phu is not only admired as the oldest athlete at the ongoing APG 11 in Surakarta city but also the most veteran player at the regional sports event for the disabled.

Vietnamese duo and Indonesia players at a qualification match of the ongoing ASEAN Para Games 11 at the competition hall in Solo High Techology Area.

The veteran athlete has so far competed at 9 editions of APG since his first in 2001 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). Throughout his participation, he brought home seven gold, one silver, and one bronze medals which can be said the highest APG achievement till now.

Apart from many medals at domestic tourneys, he won one silver medal at USA Open Table Tennis Championships for the Disabled, one silver at a Middle East Championships and one bronze medal at Asian Para Games.

Phu shared: “Though I have participated in several championships, I have different emotion. This year event is special for me after five years I was absent due to Covid-19 pandemic”.

He is proud to attend this APG together with many players at the same age as his children.

Phu said actually he plays table tennis as the way to maintain physical health. However, when he is selected to compete at foreign event, he always exerts every effort to bring glory to the country. Till now, the veteran player has never thought of retirement. He strives to keep the health condition to join all contents like others till the end of the Games.

Regarding the regional and international events, he confirmed to win good achievement to enter Vietnam table tennis squad for disabled.

Phu said it is hard to say about the correlation at his competition content because this year event gathered many young players. But he can affirm his position at domestic championships and it takes years for other rivals to “overthrown” him at the final match.

Bac Giang tennis player Ly Xuan Phu considered his only toughest rival for the gold medal at APG 11 is the player from host country Indonesia who won his gold medal at APG 2011 in the same city of Surakarta but was defeated by Phu at semifinal round of USA Open Table Tennis Championships for the Disabled.

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Source: VNA