Khetam Abuawad

Last updated
Khetam Abuawad
Personal information
Nationality Jordanian
Born (1974-10-08) 8 October 1974 (age 48)
Amman, Jordan
Height1.50 m (4 ft 11 in)
Sport
CountryFlag of Jordan.svg  Jordan
Sport Para table tennis
Disability Paraplegia
Disability class C5
Coached byHaron Shalkoni
Medal record
Table tennis
Representing Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan
Paralympic Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2004 Athens Team class 4-5
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2008 Beijing Team class 4-5
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2006 MontreuxTeams class 4-5
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg2006 MontreuxSingles class 4
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg2014 BeijingSingles class 5
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2010 GwangjuSingles class 5
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2010 GwangjuTeams class 5
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2014 BeijingTeams class 5
Asian Para Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2018 Jakarta Women's singles C5
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2014 Incheon Women's singles C5
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2014 Incheon Women's teams C4-5
Asian Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg2009 AmmanTeams class 4-5
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg2013 BeijingSingles class 5
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2007 SeoulTeams class 5
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2011 Hong KongSingles class 5
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2011 Hong KongTeams class 4-5
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2013 BeijingTeams class 4-5
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2015 AmmanSingles class 5
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2015 AmmanTeams class 4-5

Khetam Kamal Hasan Abuawad (born 8 October 1974) is a Jordanian paralympic athlete who has spina bifida and has won two medals at the Summer Paralympics and has been competing for Jordan internationally since 1998. [1] She is currently ranked world number one in singles class 5 and world number six in teams class.

Contents

Sporting success

Early career

Her first international competition was the ISMWSF World Wheelchair Games in Stoke Mandeville in 1998, [2] where she also won her first major title: she won two gold medals for singles class 5 and women's team class 2-5 and a silver medal for the wheelchair open competition. One year later, she competed in the Pan Arab Games in 1999 when she won another gold medal for her country in the women's singles class 5 after being defeated by fellow competitor Fatmeh Al Azzam and won her second silver medal in the wheelchair open competition.

In 2002, Abuawad won a bronze medal along with Fatmeh Al Azzam and Maha Al-Bargouthi in the World Team Cup in Roermund, Netherlands. In the same year, she won three gold medals in all of her events, she had beaten Stephanie Mariage of France to win the three titles including the team class 1-5 event at the King Hussein Memorial Tournament in her hometown, Amman. Two years later in 2004, she took part in the T.T. International Masters Italian Open where she got two silver medals after being defeated by Slovenia's Andreja Dolinar in the gold medal match of the wheelchair singles' open and Jitka Pivarciova of Czech Republic, she later took the bronze medal with Al Azzam in the women's team class 1-5.

2004 to 2008

After the Paralympic Games in Athens in 2004, Abuawad was aiming to gain more medals for her country. She took part in the Misr International Tournament in Cairo where she won a silver medal in the women's team class 4-5 and a bronze medal in the singles class 5. She later went on to win six gold medals in the year 2006, she won three gold medals in the singles class 4, wheelchair singles open and team class 4-5 in the City of Liverpool Open in March 2006 and another three gold medals in the same events at the T.T. International Masters Italian Open in September 2006.

She only competed in one international event in the year 2007, the Hong Kong Open where she won a selection of medals: she gained a gold medal in the singles' class 4-5, silver medal in the team's class 4-5 and a bronze medal in the wheelchair open. One year later, she won a silver medal in the singles class 4 and a bronze medal in the team class 4-5 at the Liverpool Open, in the same year she went to the Romanian Open and won the same coloured medals in the same classed events. By the end of 2008, Abuawad secured two gold medals in the Al Watani Championships in Amman in both singles class 1-5 and wheelchair singles open.

In May 2008, she travelled to the Polish Open in Wladyslawowo-Cetniewo where she won three more gold medals in all of her three events: singles, teams and wheelchair singles open. One month later in June, she went to compete in the Romanian Open in Cluj-Napoca where she won a silver medal in the singles class 5 and a bronze medal in the teams class 1-5. One year on, she went on to win two golds at the Al Watani Table Tennis Championships for the second consecutive time in her sporting career.

2010 to 2014

In 2010, she won further medals: four gold medals and a bronze medal in both the annual Al Watani Table Tennis Championships (three golds in singles, wheelchair singles open and teams all in classes 3-5) and the Slovenian Open (one gold medal in singles class 5, one bronze medal in the wheelchair singles open).

Abuawad won even more medals in 2011; she won six medals where five were gold mostly in singles competitions. She successfully defended her titles once more in the Al Watani Championships for the fourth time. She won a gold medal in the singles class 5 and a bronze medal in the teams class 5 in the British Open in Sheffield in September 2011. Before the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Abuawad competed in the Slovenian Open for the second time and won two gold medals in the singles and teams competitions, both in class 5 and again, won another two gold medals in the French Open in Nantes.

During 2013, she won six medals (four of which are gold) in three different locations: Abuawad won her third two sets of golds in the Al Watani Championships, another two golds at the Slovenian Open in all of her selected events, gained a silver and bronze medal in the singles and teams event in the Taichung Table Tennis Open in Taiwan. She attended two events in 2014 and winning one medal each of the singles' competitions, she won her fourth gold medal in the Al Watani Championships and got a silver medal at the Lignano Master Open in Italy.

2015 to present

Abuawad earned one gold medal in the singles event in the Slovenian Open for the third time as well as a silver medal in the teams class 5 event in 2015. [3] She unfortunately lost her reigning title at the Al Watani Championships in the same year as Zhang Bian clinched both the singles and teams titles. She didn't win any gold medals in 2016 which was the first time since 2004, she won one silver in the singles class 5 event in the Slovakia Open and a bronze medal in the teams class 5, she also got two bronze medals in the same events in the Slovenian Open. Abuawad gained six medals in 2017, four of them gold in the singles and two silvers in the teams events. She won her two singles titles in the Alicante Open, [4] Al-Watani Championships, Slovenian Open and the Thailand Open. She won her teams events' silvers in both Thailand and Slovenia.

Paralympics progression

2000 Summer Paralympics

The 2000 Summer Paralympics were Abuawad's debut Paralympics where she competed for singles. She won her match against Stephanie Palasse of France but lost to Ren Guixiang of China, she was however qualified to advance into the quarterfinals. She competed again Jitka Pivarciova of Czech Republic but lost in two sets. [5]

Meanwhile, in the team events, Abuawad and Al Bargouthi were placed third out of four teams in their group play behind Mexico and Chinese Taipei.

2004 Summer Paralympics

The 2004 Summer Paralympics were Abuawad's second Paralympic games where she took part along with Al Azzam and Al Bargouthi, she competed for the singles' class 5 and team class 4-5. Abuawad was defeated in straight sets in her group play in the singles' competition by China's Ren Gui Xiang and Chinese Taipei's Wei Mei Hui.

In the women's team class 4-5, Abuawad along with Al Azzam and Al Bargouthi were placed in second position in their round robin group after losing their match in straight sets to Chinese Taipei and tightly won the game against Germany. In the quarterfinals, they competed against Slovakia and won the match 3 sets to 2. The semifinals saw China defeating the Jordanian team in 3 sets, after their loss, they were up against France in the bronze medal match. Abuawad's team won against France and successfully gained the bronze medal for her country. [6]

2008 Summer Paralympics

At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, she was determined to succeed and win another medal from her previous Paralympics four years earlier. She was positioned in first position after winning all three of her games in the group play at the women's singles class 5, she later went on to compete against Ren Guixiang of China where she lost the game, Abuawad then played the bronze medal match against Andrea Zimmerer of Germany but unfortunately she was heavily defeated and placed in fourth place in the singles' competition.

Meanwhile, in the women's team class 4-5, Abuawad teamed up with Al Azzam and Al Bargouthi once more and were hoping to get a medal for their team. In the round of 16, she was playing against South Africa's Alisha Almeida and won three sets in the singles' match and won the doubles' event along with Al Azzam, the quarterfinals saw the team against Chinese Taipei in which they narrowly won against Wei Mei Hui and Tsai Hui Chu. The reigning champions China beat Abuawad's team in the semifinals three games to one. In the bronze medal match, they had their hopes up and were up against Serbia and won their bronze medal consecutively. [7]

2012 Summer Paralympics

Abuawad did well in her group play at the 2012 Summer Paralympics after winning both of her games in straight sets against Kimie Bessho of Japan and Marta Makishi of Argentina. In the semifinals, she lost to China's Gu Gai in three sets to one but lost once more in the bronze medal match where Ingela Lundback from Sweden won the bronze medal.

Abuawad teamed up with Fatmeh Al-Azzam in the women's team class 4-5, they were unsuccessful in the competition after being narrowly defeated by Sweden's Anna-Carin Ahlquist and Ingela Lundback in the quarterfinals. [8]

2016 Summer Paralympics

The 2016 Summer Paralympics saw Abuawad join Al Bargouthi where both of them competed in the team events together. Abuawad won both her games in the group play against Caroline Tabib of Israel and Maria Paredes of Mexico. She went into the quarterfinals against Ingela Lundback who defeated her again after they last met in the 2012 Summer Paralympics' bronze medal match where Abuawad previously lost to the Swedish table tennis player.

The Jordanian women's table tennis team were unlucky again after being defeated by Mexico in two out of three games. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natalia Partyka</span> Polish table tennis player

Natalia Dorota Partyka is a Polish table tennis player. Born without a right hand and forearm, she participates in competitions for able-bodied athletes as well as in competitions for athletes with disabilities. Partyka reached the last 32 of the London 2012 Olympic women's table tennis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States at the 2008 Summer Paralympics</span> Sporting event delegation

The United States sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. A total of 213 U.S. competitors took part in 18 sports; the only 2 sports Americans did not compete in were soccer 5-a-side and 7-a-side. The American delegation included 16 former members of the U.S. military, including 3 veterans of the Iraq War. Among them were shot putter Scott Winkler, who was paralyzed in an accident in Iraq, and swimmer Melissa Stockwell, a former United States Army officer who lost her left leg to a roadside bomb in the war.

Zipora Rubin-Rosenbaum is an Israeli athlete who has won 30 Paralympic medals. She has represented Israel at the Summer Paralympic Games seven times and has competed in athletics, swimming, table tennis, and wheelchair basketball at the Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel at the 1960 Summer Paralympics</span> Israels competition at the 1960 Summer Paralympics

Israel, participated in the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 held in Rome, Italy. The 1960 Paralympics, now considered to have been the first Paralympic Games, were initially known as the ninth Stoke Mandeville Games, an event for athletes with disabilities founded in Great Britain in 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Britain at the 1968 Summer Paralympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Great Britain was one of twenty-eight nations to send athletes to the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team finished second in the medal table and won sixty-nine medals: twenty-nine gold, twenty silver and twenty bronze. Athletes from the whole United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, were able to compete for the team. Seventy-five British athletes took part in the Games; fifty-one men and twenty-four women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel at the 1968 Summer Paralympics</span> Israels competition at the 1968 Summer Paralympics

Israel was the host nation of the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv. The Israeli team finished third in the medal table and won sixty-two medals: eighteen gold, twenty-one silver and twenty-three bronze. Over 750 athletes from 28 nations took part in the Games; the Israeli team included 53 athletes, 37 men and 15 women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Africa at the 1968 Summer Paralympics</span> Sporting event delegation

South Africa was one of twenty-eight nations that sent athletes to compete at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team finished tenth in the medal table and won a total of twenty-six medals; nine gold, ten silver and seven bronze. Eight South African athletes competed at the Games; five men and three women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Britain at the 1972 Summer Paralympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Great Britain sent a delegation to compete at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, West Germany. Teams from the nation are referred to by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as Great Britain despite athletes from the whole of the United Kingdom, including those from Northern Ireland, being eligible. They sent seventy two competitors, forty seven male and twenty five female. The team won fifty-two medals—sixteen gold, fifteen silver and twenty-one bronze—to finish third in the medal table behind West Germany and the United States. Philip Craven, the former President of the IPC, competed in athletics, swimming and wheelchair basketball for Great Britain at these Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Great Britain competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012 as the host nation. A total of 288 athletes were selected to compete along with 13 other team members such as sighted guides. The country finished third in the medals table, behind China and Russia, winning 120 medals in total; 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze. Multiple medallists included cyclist Sarah Storey and wheelchair athlete David Weir, who won four gold medals each, and swimmer Stephanie Millward who won a total of five medals. Storey also became the British athlete with the most overall medals, 22, and equal-most gold medals, 11, in Paralympic Games history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daphne Ceeney</span> Australian Paralympic athlete (1934–2016)

Daphne Jean Hilton was an Australian Paralympic competitor. She was the first Australian woman to compete at the Paralympic Games. She won fourteen medals in three Paralympics in archery, athletics, fencing, swimming, and table tennis from 1960 to 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elaine Schreiber</span>

Elaine Annette Schreiber was an Australian Paralympic table tennis player and field games athlete. She contracted Poliomyelitis as a child.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniela Di Toro</span> Australian wheelchair tennis player

Daniela "Danni" Di Toro is an Australian wheelchair tennis and table tennis player. Di Toro was the 2010 French Open doubles champion and has also been the Masters double champion. In singles, Di Toro is the former world number one and two time masters finalist. In 2015, she moved to para-table tennis and represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, where she was team captain with Kurt Fearnley. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, her sixth Paralympics, she was the team captain and Opening Ceremony flag bearer with Ryley Batt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Tapper</span> Australian para table tennis player

Melissa Tapper is an Australian table tennis player. After competing at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she represented Australia at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in elite non-Paralympic competition. In March 2016, she became the first Australian athlete to qualify for both the Summer Olympics and Summer Paralympics.

Caz Walton OBE is a British retired wheelchair athlete and former Great Britain Paralympic team manager. She was a multi-disciplinary gold medallist who competed in numerous Paralympic Games. Between 1964 and 1976 she won medals in athletics, swimming, table tennis, and fencing. She took a break from the Paralympics, entering the basketball and fencing competitions in 1988. In total Walton won ten gold medals during her Paralympic career, making her one of the most successful British athletes of all time. Walton should also have been awarded gold in the 1968 Tel Aviv Women's Pentathlon incomplete but, due to a miscalculation of her total score which went unnoticed at the time, she was given third place and a bronze medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Head</span> British table tennis player

Sara Head is a Welsh Paralympic table tennis player. Head has represented Wales at two Commonwealth Games and was selected for the 2012 Paralympic Games, where she took the bronze medal in the women's team class 1–3 event with team-mate Jane Campbell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Von Einem</span> Australian para table tennis player

Samuel "Sam" Von Einem is an Australian Paralympic table tennis player. Von Einem has represented Australia in table tennis since 2011. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, where he won silver medals in the Men's Class 11. At Rio Paralympics, he became Australia's first male table tennis medalist since Terry Biggs won gold in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josephine Medina</span> Filipino Paralympic table tennis player (1970–2021)

Josephine Rebeta Medina was a Filipino table tennis player. Medina represented the Philippines at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maha Al-Bargouthi</span> Jordanian Paralympic athlete

Maha Al-Bargouthi is a retired Jordanian Paralympic athlete who has won three Paralympic medals in para table tennis, she has competed in five Paralympic Games. She was voted Jordan's top sportsperson in 2002.

Michael Henry Dempsey was an American para table tennis player who competed in eight Paralympic Games. His best rank was world no.2 in class 4 in April 2001.

Ruth Lamsbach is a German paralympic athlete and multiple medalist at the Paralympic Games.

References

  1. "Athlete Bio". www.paralympic.org. 3 April 2018.
  2. "ABUAWAD Khetam". IPTTC.org. ITTF Para Table Tennis . Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  3. "Gold Glory for Khetam Abuawad at Table Tennis Championship". Jordan Olympic Committee. 3 April 2018.
  4. "First title decided in Alicante, Jordan celebrates gold for Khetam Abuawad". International Table Tennis Federation. 3 April 2018.
  5. "Table Tennis at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games". www.paralympic.org. 3 April 2018.
  6. "Table Tennis at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games". www.paralympic.org. 3 April 2018.
  7. "Table Tennis at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games". www.paralympic.org. 3 April 2018.
  8. "Table Tennis at the London 2012 Paralympic Games". www.paralympic.org. 3 April 2018.
  9. "Table Tennis at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games". www.paralympic.org. 3 April 2018.