AT 12 years and 204 days, Syrian table tennis player Hend Zaza has become the youngest competitor at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games when she stepped on the court Saturday.

Facing 39-year-old Austrian paddler Liu Jia, whose daughter is 10 years old, Zaza fell in straight sets without much surprise in the women’s singles preliminary round.

“I hoped to get a win in this match, and have a better play,” said Zaza. “But she was a tough opponent, and it was a good lesson for me, especially in my first Olympic appearance. Hopefully, I will work on it to get a better result next time.”

Zaza booked her Olympic berth through the Western Asia Olympic qualification tournament in Jordan in February 2020, thus becoming the first Syrian to compete in Olympic table tennis through qualification.

Without much disappointment after her defeat, Zara had a selfie in the mixed zone with Liu, also offering the latter encouragement to keep fighting in the upcoming matches.

“For the last five years, I’ve been through many different experiences, especially with the war taking place within the country and the postponement of the funding for the Olympics.

“It’s very tough, but I had to fight for it. This is my message to everyone who has the same situation — fight for your dream, and try hard regardless of the difficulties that you are having, you will reach your goal,” Zaza noted. (Xinhua)