Third place in the initial group stage was the end result for Argentina’s Lucian Khazandjan in men’s singles class 7 on the opening day of play, Friday 8th July, at the ITTF Copa Tango in Buenos Aires.

At first sight that may not appear the greatest of achievements; but when taking into account that the young man is only 12 years old, competing against experienced opposition from more senior generations, it was some feat.

He beat compatriot Cristian Di Pietrantonio (11-4, 11-6, 11-9) prior to experiencing defeats at the hands of Brazil’s Paulo Fonseca (11-3, 11-4, 11-5) and Chile’s Claudio Bahamondes (7,9,4).

“My dream is to continue competing and travel to the world to represent Argentina. Every day I train a lot and I want to improve. I also dream of being on the podium in international tournaments.

I watch a lot the players from Argentina to learn, we have a very nice training group in Buenos Aires. I am a player who moves a lot at the table, sometimes I make mistakes, but I try to learn and improve in each match.” Lucian Khazandjan

Now he looks forward to the mixed doubles, in class 14, he partners compatriot, Lara Jimenez.