Manginsay ends PH National Para Games stint with table tennis gold

Lhey Marie Manginsay captured the table tennis gold medal in the women's singles Class 10 on Thursday before the closing ceremony of the 8th Philippine National Para Games.

The 21-year-old from Zamboanga Sibugay defeated national team mainstay Minnie Cadag, 3-0, to rule the event held at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.

"I played well today. I really persevered to come here because it was my dream to play in the national team,'' said Manginsay.

She also claimed two silver medals in the women's team and mixed doubles events after the five-day meet organized by the Philippine Paralympic Committee and backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Manginsay teamed up with Marie Nina Carmelotes of Davao in the women's team where they lost against national team players Marie Eloise Sable and Cadag.

In the mixed doubles, Manginsay joined forces with Rommel Lucencio but dropped the gold-medal match opposite Linard Sultan and Cadag.

"This is my first time joining the PNPG. I didn't win the team event but I did win the singles. That's really what I came here for,'' said Manginsay.

A third-year social work student at the Sibugay Technical Institute Inc. (STII), Manginsay is being compared to Paralympian Josephine Medina, who brought home a bronze medal in table tennis during the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Paralympic Games.

"It's an honor to be compared to him. I will improve even more so that I can reach what he achieved,'' said Manginsay, who broke her right elbow after she fell from a hanging bridge in 2019.

After surgery and despite several therapy sessions, Manginsay said she could not move her right arm like she used to.