Tapper to contest Comm Games table tennis

Melissa Tapper has been named in Australia's Commonwealth Games table tennis team after winning bronze in Glasgow four years ago.

Glasgow 2014 bronze medallist Melissa Tapper and five-time Olympian Jian Fang Lay will lead Australia's table tennis charge at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

World No.195 Tapper will become the first Australian to contest both able-bodied and para competitions at a Commonwealth Games after doing so at the 2016 Olympics.

"I was lucky enough to be able to compete for Australia at the Rio Olympics and Paralympics in both the able-bodied and para competitions and I'm going to be doing it again on the Gold Coast in April," said Tapper, who was born with brachial plexus (nerve related).

"We have a very strong team representing Australia in table tennis and I'm lucky to be included in it."

The 44-year-old Lay heads into the Games in April after boosting her world ranking 52 places to 66 after a top-20 finish at October's World Cup in Canada.

Victorian David Powell is the highest-ranked men's team member at 119 and will lead the men's team alongside fellow Rio Olympians Heming Hu and Chris Yan.

AUSTRALIAN TABLE TENNIS TEAM: Men - Heming Hu, David Powell, Chris Yan, Trent Carter, Kane Townsend. Women - Jian Fang Lay, Melissa Tapper, Tracy Feng, Miao Miao, Michelle Bromley.


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Source: AAP



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