Laurens Devos (born 15 August 2000) is a Belgian table tennis player who was the Paralympic champion in men's singles class 9. He has also won four European titles and most recently, a world title for his country.
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| Nationality | Belgian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 August 2000 Malle, Belgium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Oostmalle, Belgium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Belgium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Para table tennis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Mild hemiplegia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | C9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Sokah Hoboken | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Carlo Agnello | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Laurens Devos lives in Oostmalle.[1][2] The son of Mario Devos and Christel, he has 2 brothers and a twin sister, Isabel. His 6 years older brother Robin Devos is as of 14 September 2016 the second-highest ranked able-bodied Belgian table tennis player, ranked number 119 on the World Ranking.[3]
Caused by a lack of oxygen at birth, Laurens suffers from mild hemiplegia which results in a loss of mobility on the right side of his body.[4][5] He plays left-handed. He studies at the Topsportschool in Leuven, where he is the only student with a disability.[6]
Sporting career
editLaurens Devos was ranked world number 2 in his class before going to the Paralympics. In 2014 he won the GDF Suez Trophy (the award for most promising young Belgian para-athlete).[7] He won the 2015 European Championships in Vejle, Denmark.[1][2] He is national table tennis champion in his age category (able-bodied category).[5][6]
With his victory over Dutch Gerben Last in 3 straight sets, Devos became the youngest player ever to win table tennis gold at the Paralympics.[8]
At the 2016 ITTF Star Awards, Devos won Male Para Table Tennis Star, the award for Paralympic table tennis player of the year.[9]
Devos reached the first round of the 2016 World Junior Table Tennis Championships, but then lost 4-3 from the Austrian Andreas Levenko.[10]
On 17 December 2016, Devos was named the Paralympian of the Year at the Belgian Sportsman of the year ceremony.[11]
He won his first world championship title in 2018 in Lasko, Slovenia by defeating Iurii Nozdrunov of Russia.[12]
External links
editNotes
edit- ^ a b Matthyssen, Kristin (12 September 2016). "Familie Laurens Devos stomverbaasd over gouden plak: "Bangelijk!"". Gazet van Antwerpen (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ a b "Laurens Devos" (in Dutch). Sporza.be. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- ^ "World Ranking". International Table Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ "Laurens Devos, un ado en or". La Libre Belgique (in French). 12 September 2016.
- ^ a b Bernaers, Dieter (13 September 2016). "Mentaliteit wint van fysieke drempels". De Morgen (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ a b Frans, Koen (13 September 2016). ""Laurens kan ook medailles winnen op de gewone Olympische Spelen"". Sport Planet (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ "Rolstoelatlete Marieke Vervoort laureate Nationale Trofee Victor Boin 2014". De Morgen. Belga. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ "Belgium's Laurens Devos makes table tennis history". Paralympic.org. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- ^ "Laurens Devos wint internationale Star Award" (in Dutch). De Morgen. Belga. 8 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^ "Cnudde naar tweede ronde in enkelspel op WK tafeltennis voor junioren, Loyen en Lung naar kwartfinales in dubbelspel" (in Dutch). Het Belang van Limburg. Belga. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^ Belgian Paralympic Committee (19 December 2016). "Laurens Devos named Belgian Paralympian of the Year". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
- ^ "Newly crowned World champion, another quest starts Laurens Devos". ITTF.com. 23 October 2018.