Data map: On September 9, 2016 local time, Egyptian athlete Ibrahim Hamadtou was in the Rio Paralympic Games in Brazil.

  Chinanews client, Beijing, August 28 (Reporter Xing Rui) Soon after the Tokyo Paralympic Games began, 48-year-old Egyptian table tennis player Ibrahim Hamato attracted worldwide attention.

He used his feet to serve the ball and his mouth-to-mouth shot shocked countless netizens.

At the age of 10, he lost his arms in a car accident and stood at the Olympic stadium at the age of 48. While he was moved, Hamato also made the audience feel the tenacity of life.

  On the morning of the 27th, Beijing time, Hamato ushered in the second singles match at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. His opponent was the Paralympic champion and Chinese player Chen Chao.

Facing a younger and more experienced opponent in the competition, Hamato lost 0:3 after only 17 minutes of the match.

So far, Hamato has not won a game in Tokyo.

  For those without arms, daily life may be faced with unimaginable difficulties for ordinary people, let alone stand on the international arena on behalf of their own country.

But Hamato did it. It was just that he started to learn table tennis in 1986 and participated in the Paralympic Games for the first time in 2016. It took him 30 years to realize his dream.

Data map: Hamato participates in club training.

  Hamato was born in a small village in Egypt.

Before the accident that robbed him of his arms, he had to take three train stations to Damietta every morning to work as a carpenter to support his family.

One night, after finishing his work, he embarked on the train going home excitedly. When the train was about to reach the second station, Hamato, who was standing at the door of the car, fell into the gap between the train and the platform.

  When he woke up from the coma, he had lost both arms.

The sudden blow made Hamato become taciturn. He shut himself up at home during the day and didn't dare to go out for a walk with his uncle until late at night.

He said: "I don't want to see pity and sympathy on people's faces."

  For Hamato, the most difficult thing is the first year after the accident.

After experiencing inner pain and struggle, Ibrahim finally slowly accepted the fact that he lost his arms.

Life is always going to go on, he began to try to heal himself with exercise.

  At that time, only table tennis and football were popular in the village.

Hamato first chose football. He went for a run with his friends, but because he couldn't control his balance, Ibrahim was always injured.

Until he saw someone playing table tennis at a local activity center, Hamato also had the idea of ​​giving it a try.

  At first, he clamped the racket under his armpit, but failed twice after trying it twice.

For the third time, he held the racket in his mouth and found that he could hit the ball.

Since then, this unique way of playing has become Hamato's exclusive.

Hamato played with his mouth.

  To solve the "grip racket" method, but also to solve the problem of how to serve.

Without arms, Hamato naturally thought of serving with his feet.

He spent three years practicing these two movements.

  In Hamato's view, playing table tennis is a full-body sport.

He needs to use the strength of his legs to move, toss the ball with his toes, hit the ball with the strength of his neck, and clenched the racket with his teeth to prevent the racket from moving.

  Hamato still remembers that his first game was against a friend who once mocked him for "never being able to play", who was also a master of table tennis in the village.

But Hamato won the final victory and won the respect of the locals.

This gave him great confidence and made him firm in his determination to play consistently.

Hamato and Malone fought.

Screenshot of the Olympic Channel.

  Later, Hamato got the help of professional coaches, and his skills became proficient over time.

In 2013, Hamato ushered in a turning point in his life.

He won the singles runner-up in the African Disabled Championship that year, and his outstanding performance has attracted the attention of the ITTF.

At the 2014 World Table Tennis Championships, Hamato participated in the exhibition match as a guest and played against the masters such as Malone and Wang Hao.

In 2015, he got a ticket to the Rio Paralympics again, and that year, he was over 40 years old.

  In the Paralympics, the masters are like a cloud, and Hamato is the only one who plays with his mouth.

In the singles competition, he was hard to find, and finally finished his trip to Rio with 11th in singles and 9th in the team.

  For failure, Hamato has long been accustomed to accepting frankly. He said: "Not all failures are failures. Sometimes you lose, but you actually win because you increase your experience and insight."

Data map: Cairo, Egypt, Hamato hangs the medals he won on his neck at home.

  Hamato moved his goal to Tokyo, and he was eager to win a Paralympic medal.

Because of the next Paralympic Games, Hamato will be 51 years old.

As he grows older, his physical fitness declines quickly. After playing for a long time, his neck and teeth have also suffered varying degrees of damage.

In Paris three years later, Hamato doesn't know if he can still compete.

  But competitive sports does not always have a perfect ending like fairy tales.

After losing to Chen Chao, Hamato has become farther and farther away from his dream.

He said: "The taste of losing is really bitter, but I did well."

  In fact, Hamato does not rely on table tennis for his livelihood. He is a staff member of the Egyptian Ministry of Education and was once a famous calligrapher in his hometown.

But at the same time writing with his mouth and playing ball made his chin overwhelmed, and he had to give up the hobby of calligraphy.

And the love of table tennis from the heart, let him stick to it till now.

  Hamato once said in an interview that there are two most important things in his life, one is to become acquainted with table tennis, and the other is to meet his current wife.

Data map: Hamato wrote down his daughter's name with a pen.

  More than 20 years ago, Hamato and his wife fell in love at first sight, the latter ignoring his family's opposition to marrying him.

Today, they have a son and two daughters.

The youngest daughter is very interested in table tennis.

"She always said she wanted to be a table tennis player like a dad," Hamato said.

  In addition to life training, Hamato is also helping more people.

After the Rio Paralympics ended, he began teaching two armless boys like him to play in Egypt. He wanted to use his experience to help them move towards a broader life.

  The definition of Hamato by winning or losing is obviously too narrow. His story tells the world that nothing is impossible, and if you have a dream, you must be brave to chase it.

(over)