AFTER striking silver in Beijing, Warrnambool rower Kathryn Ross finished out of the medals last night at the London Paralympics.
Ross and new partner Gavin Bellis had to settle for fifth in the trunk and arms mixed double sculls final at Eton Dorney. They finished more than eight seconds behind the winning combination of Tianming Fei and Xiaoxian Lou, of China. France claimed silver and USA the bronze, with Britain fourth.
The Aussie pair made its way into the final after a close repechage round by finishing second.
They were forced to qualify via the repechage after finishing third in their heat on Friday night, behind France’s Perle Bouge and Stephane Tardieu, who set a new world-best time.
Hamilton table tennis star Melissa Tapper will play off for a bronze medal after losing her semi-final to Poland’s Natalia Partyka 3-0.
She will take on China’s Lei Fan, who beat Tapper 3-0 in the preliminary rounds, at 4am tomorrow. The 22-year-old made her way to the semis after knocking off Brazil’s Bruna Alexandre 3-2 and France’s Audrey le Morvan 3-0 in the preliminary rounds.
Camperdown wheelchair rugby player Josh Hose will hits centre stage when the Aussies take on Canada on Thursday.
jwoolley@standard.fairfax.com.au
