Medina to carry Philippine colors in Rio Paralympics

MANILA, Philippines – After Ian Lariba in the 2016 Olympics, another lady table tennis ace, Josephine Medina, will do the honors of carrying the Philippine flag in the Paralympics in Rio.

Medina, the country’s top para table tennis bet, earned the nod of the Philippine Sports Association for the Differently-Abled-National Paralympic Committee as flag bearer during the opening ceremonies on Sept. 7.

Medina will actually reprise the role she previously played in 2012 in London, where she finished fourth in the women’s singles of Class 8.

The 46-year-old Medina looms as a legitimate medal prospect for the five-athlete Phl contingent in Rio, carrying a world ranking of No. 5 in the ITTF list and coming off a silver medal performance at the pre-Paralympics Romania Open.

Medina joins forces with powerlifters Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta (women’s +86kg) and Agustin Kitan (men’s 59kg), swimmer Ernie Gawilan (S8 100-m and 400-m freestyle and 100-m backstroke) and wheelchair racer Jerrold Pete Mangliwan (T52 100-m and 400-m events) in trying to snap Phl’s 16-year medal drought in the quadrennial games.

Ancheta won the country’s first and only medal so far – a bronze in Sydney in 2000 – and returns to try again on her fifth straight appearance.

The Rio-bound bets attended Holy Mass and a simple send-off ceremony last week.