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Table tennis: Josephine Medina remembered as consummate competitor, kind mentor

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Manolo Pedralvez

<p>Besides their love for table tennis, Ian Lariba and Josephine Medina had at least 2 more things in common.</p><p>For one, both Lariba and Medina were the country’s first Filipino table tennis athletes at the 2016 Rio Olympic and Rio Paralympic Games, respectively, with Medina emerging with a bronze medal from her event in the bright and festive Brazilian city renowned for its Ipanema Beach and carnivals. </p><p>Even more startling and eerie enough to make one’s skin crawl is the fact that both athletes died on the same date, September 2.</p><p>On the third death anniversary of Lariba last Thursday, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 23 after a 2-year battle with leukemia, Medina died at her family residence in Marikina. She was 51. </p><p>“We lost two great table tennis players in Yanyan (Lariba’s nickname) and Josephine on the same date. Go figure that out. Sobrang coincidence (What a great coincidence),” noted table tennis chief Ting Ledesma. “Is there any way to explain this? I truly don’t know.</p><p>“Lubos kaming nakikiramay sa kanyang pamilya (We offer our deepest condolences to her family).”</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/12/16/medina-wins-bronze-medal-in-rio-paralympics">Medina wins bronze medal in Rio Paralympics</a></li></ul><p>Medina’s coach, Michael Dalumpines, said last Friday that he was stunned by the sudden death of the table tennis player, also a 2012 London Olympics veteran, since they still were able to practice together last August 20 before the Metro Manila went on lockdown.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/23/17/asean-para-games-josephine-medina-caps-ph-stint-with-table-tennis-gold">ASEAN Para Games: Josephine Medina caps PH stint with table-tennis gold</a></li></ul><p>Hours after the Medina’s death, who was known for her lively and bubbly personality, Dalumpines posted his tribute on his Facebook page with their pictures taken at overseas meets, saying: “ Ate Josephine Medina Sabi mo sa huli natin paguusap ‘laban lang Tayo coach’</p><p>“May you rest in Paradise ate Jo, salamat sa mga taon pinagsamahan natin.”</p><p>Included in the tribute was a short clip of their last workout together.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/10/09/18/asian-para-games-josephine-medina-cops-silver-in-table-tennis">Asian Para Games: Josephine Medina cops silver in table tennis</a></li></ul><div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/100000916010640/videos/pcb.6217088848331587/273984014265375" data-width="auto"> </div><div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/michael.dalumpines.1/posts/6217088848331587" data-width="auto"> </div><p>“Mag-isa lang po si ate Jo kasama ’yung kanyang nanay na 74 sa Marikina. Muntik kong puntahan para matulungan. Buti dumating ’yung kapatid niya kaya nakausap ko rin at inaayos na raw ’yong kanyang death certificate,” the coach said.</p><p>He declined to discuss circumstances of the national para athlete’s death out of respect for her family’s privacy but revealed that Medina’s mother tested negative for COVID-19 after getting swabbed when she was fetched by local authorities.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/12/16/medina-wins-bronze-medal-in-rio-paralympics">Medina wins bronze medal in Rio Paralympics</a></li></ul><p>He disclosed that he was able to talk last Thursday to Philippine Sports Commission acting executive director Atty. Guillermo Iroy Jr., who assured the coach that Medina would get assistance from the PSC as a member of the national para team.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/23/17/asean-para-games-josephine-medina-caps-ph-stint-with-table-tennis-gold">ASEAN Para Games: Josephine Medina caps PH stint with table-tennis gold</a></li></ul><p>Philippine Paralympic Committee president Mike Barredo, who was with the PH Paralympic team in Japan, issued a statement on Saturday from Tokyo in recognition of Medina’s glowing contributions for the country in international competitions.</p><div><strong>Exceptional work ethic</strong></div><p>“Ate Jo, as Medina was called, exemplified hard work and dedication to her sport that our national para athletes can follow and look up to as an inspiration,” Barredo said. “This is what made her an exceptional athlete and champion and enabled her to win a bronze medal for the country in Rio.”</p><p>Even national para athletic coach Joel Deriada said that the athlete’s work ethic was second to none and was grateful for their time together, particularly at the Rio Paralympic Games, where he witnessed Medina garner the bronze medal.</p><p>“Mabait ’yang si Jo and talagang addict sa training (Jo was a nice person and a training addict),” Deriada said.</p><p>Dalumpines, who was reunited with the athlete in the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, corroborated Deriada’s observation, saying: “Grabe talaga si ate Jo sa training. Halos araw-araw kami. Kung iba apat na oras lang, siya anim. (Ate Jo worked extra hard in training. While others would settle for four hours, she would go six hours.)” </p><p>So prolific was Medina at her sport that she even made the regular national women’s team in 1989, according to Dalumpines, who was also a national team member himself from 1989 to 1992.</p><p>Whether male or female, Medina, the coach said, would take on all comers even when she practiced at the Amoranto Stadium, a popular hangout for table tennis buffs in Quezon City.</p><p>“Fighter talaga ’yang si Josephine. Hindi umuurong (she doesn’t back down,” recalled Ledesma, a former national player who got to play against Medina in informal workouts.</p><p>But while she would not back down to anyone over the table, Dalumpines said Medina was a softie to those who wanted to learn the sport.</p><p>“She (Medina) would tell those who watched her train to wait and she would get back to them. And she always kept her word, giving pointers to those who were there to learn more about the game,” the coach said. </p><div><strong>A new weapon in Medina’s arsenal</strong></div><p>Dalumpines said he developed Medina’s backhand to add diversity to her arsenal of shots.</p><p>“Dati kasi medyo defensive ang laro ni Josephine kaya dinevelop namin backhand niya para madagdagan atake niya (Josephine used to be a defensive player but we were able to develop her backhand to add variety to her attacks.),” the coach said.</p><p>That tweak in her technique proved to be a game-changer as Medina used it with telling effect in anchoring the national para team to romping off with 4 gold medals in the 2008 ASEAN Para Games in Nakhon Ratchashima, Thailand.</p><p>A more polished Medina would bag a silver medal at the 2010 Asian Para Games in Guangzhou, China and bronze in the 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea. Her reunion with Dalumpines produced another silver medal in the continental sports showcase three years ago in Jakarta.</p><p>The Filipina campaigner stretched her dominance in the Southeast Asian level with gold medals in the women’s singles in 2014 Myanmar, 2015 Singapore and 2017 Malaysia in the ASEAN Para Games.</p><div><strong>Rio Paralympic milestone</strong></div><p>But the Rio Paralympics in 2016 would be the highest point in the beloved athlete’s glittering table tennis career.</p><p>Competing in the women’s table singles C8, Medina was bracketed in Class B together with Chinese defending champion Mao Jingdian and Norwegian Aidah Dahlen, with the top two advancing to the semifinals.</p><p>The Pinay athlete absorbed a straight-set, 4-11, 5-11 and 6-11 loss to Mao but recovered with riveting 11-5, 3-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-8 come-from-behind win over Dahlen to enter the semifinal round.</p><p>Medina was dispatched in the semis by French-Laotian Thu Kamkasomphou, who easily won 11-5, 11-8, 11-9, relegating her to the bronze-medal match in the division against Germany’s Juliane Wolf, a former world silver medalist, who lost to Mao 7-11, 11-9, 7-11, 8-11 in the other semis encounter.</p><p>With the medal within her grasp, the feisty Filipina athlete outplayed the German 11-5, 11-6, 11-7, snapping the country’s 16-year-old medal drought in the Games since Adeline Dumapong Ancheta delivered the first bronze medal in the powerlifting event held in the 2000 edition in Sydney.</p><div><strong>Discus-thrower Aceveda mourns friend’s death</strong></div><p>Among those who were deeply affected by the table tennis player’s death was fellow national para athlete and discus thrower Jeanette Aceveda, according to her daughter, Jen Morningstar Aceveda.</p><p>“Hello, yes po, super close po sila. Like sisters po (They were super close, just like sisters),” the younger Aceveda said of the friendship of more than 15 years between the two athletes who both reside in Marikina.</p><p>“Si Tita Jo ay ninang ng bunso kong kapatid na si Gabriel So more than 15 years na po ’yun friendship. (Tita Jo is is godmother of my youngest brother Gabriel so they have been friends for more than 15 years,” she said.</p><p>“Parang ate po siya (Medina) sa mother ko. Kahit ilang buwan sila di magkita, parang walang pagbabago (Medina was like an elder sister to my mother. Even if they had not seen each other for months, nothing seem to change in their relationship.),” she added.</p><p>They were something of an odd couple: the tall and stocky Aceveda, who is visually impaired, being accompanied by the pint-size Medina.</p><p>The younger Aceveda said her mom was sad that her friend failed to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics while she did, although the discus thrower missed her own chance to compete when she tested positive for COVID-19 during her stay in the Japanese capital.</p><p>She said that her mother was in quarantine and was inconsolable when she learned of Medina’s death.</p><p>“Hindi po kami masyadong nakapag-usap ni mama. Iyak lang po siya ng iyak ng iyak ng sabihin kong pumanaw na ang kaibigan niya. (I wasn’t able to talk to my mother. She just cried and cried when she learned that her friend had died,” she recounted.</p>

Medina, only the second Filipino to medal at the Paralympics, was known for her drive and willingness to teach those eager to learn the game.