Tahl Leibovitz successfully defended his Parapan American Games gold medal in the men's open standing competition.

Leibovitz went 5-0 on the first day of table tennis play at the 2007 Parapan American Games, winning a gold medal in the open singles men’s standing competition. While gold is always golden, this one only serves as a testament to his painstaking preparation for what is still to come.

The most significant polished hardware – the decorative neckwear that assures a place at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games – is gold in class singles or team play. Class singles begin Tuesday morning, while team competition is scheduled to start Thursday.

“We’ve got the meaningful ones to go,” Leibovitz said.

While important for individual ranking points, open competition combines the 10 regular classes into broad divisions of standing and wheelchair athletes among the men and women. Class competition is where Leibovitz and his teammates hope to qualify for Beijing with gold.

The other eight members of the U.S. Paralympics Table Tennis Team used the open event to train for today’s important class matches with equal sharpness. The players placed the 40-millimeter plastic ball with intelligence and poise at the table.

“I think everyone has a good picture of the competition, what to pay attention to for the next few days,” Head Coach Sean O’Neill (Portland, Ore.) said. “Everyone has their concentration.”

Andre Scott (Fort Worth, Texas), a three-time Paralympian, placed fourth in the men’s wheelchair open, finishing the day with a 3-2 record. He played for the bronze medal, a feat he will work to better as the Parapan American Games progress.

Norman Bass (Inglewood, Calif.), Wayne Lo (Sunnyvale, Calif.), Noga Nir-Kistler (Allentown, Pa.) and Pamela Fontaine (Double Oak, Texas) fought to the quarterfinal rounds of the single-elimination event. Nir-Kistler and Fontaine impressed their coach against unknown competition, taking the eventual top two women’s wheelchair players to the brink of elimination.

“I thought the girls played exceptionally well,” O’Neill said. “They lost in five games to the finalists.”

Stuart Caplin (Orange Park, Calif.), Edward Levy (Portland, Ore.) and Mitchell Seidenfeld (Lakeville, Minn.) also swung their paddles smartly against some of the best players in the Americas, making the round of 16 before ending a long first day of the table tennis tournament. With day one out of the way, the real games begin.

“I think the most important thing right now is to get back, get some rest and get ready to start fresh,” O’Neill said. “We can’t be thinking about this open competition.”

Tuesday’s competition schedule (Times indicate first matches)

Andre Scott – 9:40 a.m.
Tahl Lebovitz – 10:20 a.m.
Stuart Caplin – 11:00 a.m.
Mitchell Seidenfeld – 11:00 a.m.
Norman Bass – 11:40 a.m.
Edward Levy – 11:40 a.m.
Pamela Fontaine – 3:00 p.m.
Wayne Lo – 4:20 p.m.
Noga Nir-Kistler – 7:00 p.m.