Progress for National Para Team members at the ITTF World Para Challenger Lasko

Three Australian athletes have continued their progress into the later stages of the ITTF World Para Challenger Lasko, with Sam Von Einem, Qian Yang and Danni Di Toro still on the hunt for singles medals in Slovenia.

Von Einem, who won gold at the ITTF World Para Future Gold Coast earlier this year, topped his group with wins over Ukraine's Valerii Vlasenko, Japan's Takeshi Takamori and Hong Kong's King Shing Yuen, before a 3-0 win over Hong Kong's Wai Lok Wan in the quarter-finals. Sam will take on South Korea's Bogyeom Kim in the semi-final, with the winner facing one of Maciej Makajew or Gi Tae Kim.

Yang, who was also victorious at the home tournament in the Gold Coast in February, and has also progressed to the semi-finals, with two wins from two against Sweden's Anja Handen and Hong Kong's Yan Yu Lan. Qian then triumphed 3-0 over China's Chunxiao Hou in the quarter finals, and will face Turkey's Merve Demir for a place in the final. 

Di Toro, who is competing in her second successive tournament in Europe following her performance in the ITTF World Para Future Podgorica, takes her place in the quarter finals following a comprehensive 3-0 win over Germany's Kyra Liepach in the Round of 16, following a first-place finish in her group, where she defeated Mexico's Martha Verdin and Slovakia's Kristina Arancic. Danni will face China's Xiaodan Gu in the last eight.

The singles tournaments are sadly over for Nathan Pellissier, Lucas Milsom and Jodi Elkington-Jones, however Pelissier and Milsom will bid for success in the Men's Doubles (Class MD18), whilst Pellissier will also compete alongside Elkington-Jones in the Mixed Doubles (Class XD17), with Milsom set to begin his doubles campaign alongside Qian Yang on Friday, May 8.

The draw and results for the tournament can be found here, with live streaming available on the ITTF YouTube Channel.