Laurens Devos won his third consecutive Paralympic title in para table tennis, in the MS9 class, on Saturday at the Arena Paris Sud. Devos beat Frenchman Lucas Didier in the final in three sets, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7. The match lasted 19 minutes.
Devos, 24, brings the Belgian delegation’s tally to 14 medals in these Paris Games with seven gold, four silver and three bronze.
Devos was also active in doubles (MD18 class) during these Paralympic Games. Alongside Marc Ledoux, he lost in the quarter-finals against the Chinese Shuai Zhao and Hao Lian.
At Rio 2016, Laurens Devos became the youngest gold medallist in the history of table tennis at the Paralympic Games at the age of 16. The Antwerp native successfully defended his title at the Tokyo Games five years later.
Devos suffers from hemiplegia, which causes him to lose mobility on the right side of his body. Class 9 in table tennis is reserved for upright players with mild limitation of movement in one arm or leg, moderate impairment of one forearm, or absence of limbs.