Junjian "Jessy" Chen (born 5 January 1990) is an Australian Paralympic

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

player. He competed at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Personal

Chen was born on 5 January 1990 in

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. During his teenage years, his family moved from Southern China to the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

for work. In 2006, his family was attacked and he ended up in intensive care due to severe blood loss and a heart attack as result of a machete attack to his neck. The attack meant that he had to use a wheelchair. His family were evacuated to Australia. He spent his first three months at the Royal Rehabilitation Centre in Sydney, where he learned to move and talk again.

Table tennis

Chen took up table tennis as part of his rehabilitation program and is classified as a C3 Para-table tennis player. He won the men's singles class 2-3 men's singles at the 2017 Para Oceania Championships, the men's singles class 3–5 at the 2019 Para Oceania Championships and 2023 men's singles class 3 at the 2023 Para Oceania Championships. He competed in the men's singles class 3–5 at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

, Birmingham. Chen competed at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the Men's Singles 3, Men's Doubles 8 and Mixed Doubles 7 but did not progress after the opening matches. He was awarded a Kurt Fearley scholarship and is supported by the

New South Wales Institute of Sport The New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) is a high-performance-sports training institute in New South Wales, Australia. The New South Wales government agency provides coaching, performance support, and daily training environments to help t ...

. Chen has Level 1 coaching certificate and coaches at the Royal Rehabilitation Centre.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Jessy 1990 births Living people Paralympic table tennis players for Australia Table tennis players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 21st-century Australian sportsmen