Qian Yang and Lina Lei win gold medals at 2026 ITTF World Para Elite Yvelines

Qian Yang and Lina Lei, members of our National Para Squad, both secured remarkable gold medals at the 2026 ITTF World Para Elite Yvelines.

In one of the final international events in the 2026 Para Table Tennis Calendar, both Yang and Lei made the long journey to France, with the aim of securing more important time at the table in competition ahead of November's 2026 World Para Table Tennis Championships.

Lei, who was drawn alongside Hungary's Alexa Szvitacs, Russia's Olga Gorshkaleva and the United Kingdom's Lowri Elisabeth Hurd, won all three of her group stage matches, including a dramatic 3-2 victory over Gorshkaleva.

In the semi-final, she defeated Croatia's Mirjana Lucic 3-1, setting up a final against Danielle Rauen from Brazil. It was a thrilling fixture to decide gold, with Lei seeing herself 2-1 down, but 11-3 and 12-10 wins in the final two sets ensured the gold medal was hers.

Yang would compete in a group containing Russia's Anastasia Kostenevich, Nigeria's Faith Obazuaye and Germany's Marlene Reeg. Yang eased to victory over Obazuaye and Reeg, but would finish the group in second place following a 3-2 loss to Kostenevich. 

In her semi-final, Yang faced World Number Two, Bruna Alexandre from Brazil. Yang took the first two sets, before being pegged back by Alexandre, who forced a final set, which Yang professionally claimed with an 11-8 win.

Yang would face Kostenevich again in the final, seeking to overcome the Russian following her group stage defeat, and claimed the gold medal with a phenomenal 3-0 win.

Lei and Yang will link up in the Women’s Doubles Class WD20 tournament, which begins on Tuesday 15 September (Local Time).

Huge congratulations to both of our superb athletes on yet more international success!