Qian Yang Named as Australian Para Player of the Year

Paralympic champion Qian Yang has been named as the winner of the Arthur Wilks Award as the Australian Para Player of the Year.

The award and title is the highest honour for an Australian Para player and is awarded annually based on performance and results, combined with an athlete’s conduct.

Yang’s ascension to the award comes on the back of her winning two medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games – gold in Women’s Class 10 Singles and silver in Women’s Class 9-10 Teams.

TTA Chief Executive Officer Scott Houston commended Yang on her phenomenally year.

“Qian played phenomenally well in Tokyo, especially in her win against four-time Paralympic Champion Natalia Partyka," he said.

"Qian’s two medals were crucial in Australia’s record breaking results where we finished second on the table tennis medal tally, only behind China. TTA looks forward to Qian enjoying a long and distinguished career in the green and gold."

Upon receiving the award, Yang said it was a great honour to win the award.

"I am really happy to receive it as this is my first time. 2021 has been a difficult year because of the pandemic. However, I got lots of support from our team leading up to Tokyo which helped me to win one gold medal and one silver medal at the Paralympic Games," she said.

The Arthur Wilks Award is proudly sponsored by long-term TTA partner, Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA).

CGA Chief Executive Officer Craig Phillips applauded Yang’s performances.

“Qian’s performances in Tokyo were a class above and she fully deserves her medals and this prestigious award. No doubt Qian will be well in contention for further medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and CGA looks forward to tracking Qian’s future successes," he said.

Under normal circumstances the assessment period for the award would have been from immediately after the 2020 National Championships, until completion of the 2021 National Championships. However, with COVID-19 causing the cancellation of the event last year and this year, TTA and the National Selection Panel determined that presenting the award at the end of 2021 was the most appropriate outcome.

Congratulations Qian, you are a most worthy recipient.