Youth Olympic Games: Table tennis matches start off PH campaign

BUENOS AIRES—Jann Mari Nayre has embraced the tension of being the first Filipino who will plunge into action in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games here.

Starting off the country’s medal bid late Sunday (Monday in Manila), the table tennis ace plays a pair of elimination-round games opposite Nicolas Ignacio Burgos of Chile and Maciej Kolodziejczyk of Austria six hours apart in Group B of the men’s singles preliminaries at Table Tennis Arena of the Technopolis here.

The 18-year-old from San Beda University in Taytay, Rizal, will wind up the initial stage against Rio de Janeiro Olympian Khanak Jha of the US on Oct. 8.

“I’m here to give my best, regardless of whom I’m facing,” said Nayre, a right-hander who qualified here after landing a gold in the Cook Islands qualifiers last June.

Ranked No. 431 in the world, Nayre also suited up in the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur last year and the recent Asian Games in Indonesia but failed to medal.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach graced the opening ceremony at the famed Obelisco de Buenos Aires attended by 3,997 athletes from 206 countries amid a dazzling panoply of lights, sounds and fireworks.

“We all come from different parts of the world, but we are united through sports,” said Bach, a gold medalist in fencing during the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Golf sensation Yuka Saso, a double gold medalist in the recent Asiad, proudly waved the Philippine flag during the parade of participating countries.

Filipino-Norwegian kiteboarder Christian Tio will see action on Oct. 8 while fencer Lawrence Everett Tan, swimmer Nicole Oliva and golfers Carl Jano Corpus and Saso begin their bids on Oct. 9.