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Fabio Rakotoarimanana

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Fabio Rakotoarimanana
Born (2003-07-24) 24 July 2003 (age 21)
Table tennis career
Playing styleRight-handed, shakehand grip
Highest ranking146 (19 March 2024)
Current ranking153 (30 July 2024)
ClubLille Métropole TT [fr]
(Pro B)
Medal record
Men's table tennis
Representing  Madagascar
African Games
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Accra Mixed doubles
African Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Rades Doubles
Francophone Games
Silver medal – second place 2023 Kinshasa Singles
East African Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Djibouti Singles
Gold medal – first place 2023 Djibouti Team
Gold medal – first place 2024 Kampala Singles
Gold medal – first place 2024 Kampala Team
Representing  France
European Youth Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Cluj-Napoca Team (cadet)
Silver medal – second place 2018 Cluj-Napoca Mixed doubles (cadet)
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Cluj-Napoca Doubles (cadet)

Fabio Adrien Rakotoarimanana (born 24 July 2003) is a Malagasy table tennis player. He represented France in his youth before switching allegiances to compete for his home country in 2022. After winning several international medals, Rakotoarimanana qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics, where he was chosen as a flag-bearer and became Madagascar's first Olympic table tennis player.

Career

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Career in France

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A native of Madagascar, Rakotoarimanana grew up in the port city of Toulon, France, and began playing table tennis at the age of seven.[1][2] At the 2014 French national championships, while competing in the in the benjamins (under-11) category, he won the silver medal in the singles event, and partnered with Alexis Lebrun to win gold in doubles.[3] In 2015, the pair of Rakotoarimanana and Lebrun won a bronze in the doubles event in the minimes (under-13) category,[4] followed by a silver-medal doubles finish in 2016.[5] In cadets (under-15) competition, Rakotoarimanana teamed with Myshaal Sabhi to win gold in the doubles at the 2018 national championships.[6]

In April 2018, Rakotoarimanana partnered with Félix Lebrun to win the cadets boy's doubles title at the Belgium Junior and Cadet Open.[7] He also won a silver in the team event and a bronze in the singles.[8] In July, Rakotoarimanana competed in the cadets category at the European Youth Championships in Romania, where he won a gold in the boy's team,[9] silver in the mixed doubles (with Prithika Pavade),[10] and bronze in the boy's doubles.[11] At the 2019 French national championships - now in the juniors category - Rakotoarimanana won a bronze medal in the singles competition.[12] He competed at the European Youth Championships in the Czech Republic that year, though he did not medal.[13]

At the club level, Rakotoarimanana played for Le Garde TT and Lille Métropole TT [fr].[12][14] He helped the latter reach the semifinals of the 2024 ETTU Europe Trophy, where they lost to the eventual champions, Panathinaikos.[15][16]

Switch to Madagascar

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In a 2018 interview, Rakotoarimanana expressed his desire to represent Madagascar in international competition.[2] In December 2022, his father announced that he had accepted an invitation from the Malagasy Table Tennis Federation to switch allegiances and join his home country's national team.[2] Rakotoarimanana made his international debut for Madagascar at the East African Championships held in Djibouti in March 2023.[1][17] He won the gold medal in the men's singles – beating compatriot Antoine Razafinarivo 4–0 in the final – and another gold in the men's team competition.[18] At the ITTF Africa Cup in May, Rakotoarimanana won all three group stage matches before losing to Sami Kherouf [fr] in the round of 32 and finishing 13th in the placement round.[19][20]

Rakotoarimanana was selected as a flag-bearer for Madagascar at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Francophone Games,[21] where he took silver in the singles event after losing to Eduard Ionescu in the final.[22] He was set to take part the 2023 Indian Ocean Island Games in Madagascar later that month, but his eligibility was revoked after the Mauritius Table Tennis Association filed a complaint alleging that he (and two other Malagasy athletes) did not meet the necessary residency requirements to compete at the Games.[23][24]

On 17 September 2023, Rakotoarimanana partnered with Antoine Razafinarivo to win the men's doubles title at the African Championships in Tunisia, clinching the gold medal with a 3–1 win over the local pair of Youssef Ben Attia and Aboubaker Bourass in the final.[25] They previously upset the Egyptian pair of Ahmed Saleh and Mohamed El-Beiali 3–2 in the semi-final.[25] In the men's singles event, Rakotoarimanana advanced to the quarterfinals, where he was eliminated by Olajide Omotayo.[25]

In February 2024, Rakotoarimanana competed at the 2024 World Team Table Tennis Championships, where he won three of his six individual matches.[26] Notably, he beat Olajide Omotayo 3–0 to secure Madagascar's 3–1 upset victory over Nigeria in the group stage.[27] In March, Rakotoarimanana competed at the postponed 2023 African Games and won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles event with Hanitra Raharimanana [fr].[28] Then, in April, Rakotoarimanana took gold in both the singles and team events at the East African Championships.[29][30]

In May 2024, Rakotoarimanana qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics by defeating Wassim Essid at the ITTF Africa Olympic Qualification Tournament, 4–3.[31] He became the first Malagasy table tennis player to ever qualify for the Olympics.[31]`At the Summer Olympics in Paris, Rakotoarimanana was defeated by Omar Assar in the round of 32 of the men's singles event, 1–4.[32]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "ITTF-Africa : Pour l'amour de Madagascar" (in French). Expatriés Malagasy de Tennis de Table. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Tennis de table: Fabio Rakotomanana [sic] décide de rejoindre l'équipe nationale". NewsMada (in French). 17 December 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Les champions de France Benjamins - Cadets" (in French). Fédération française de tennis de table [fr]. 1 June 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  4. ^ "Résultats des Championnats de France Minimes Juniors 2015". Tennis2Table (in French). 1 June 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Résultats des Championnats de France Minimes et Juniors 2016". Tennis2Table (in French). 28 May 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Résultats des Championnats de France Benjamin Cadets 2018". Tennis2Table (in French). 30 May 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  7. ^ Marshall, Ian (22 April 2018). "Yukari Sugasawa completes double, adds to title collection". International Table Tennis Federation. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  8. ^ "8 médailles en Belgique" (in French). Fédération française de tennis de table [fr]. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  9. ^ Daish, Simon (20 July 2018). "First titles awarded, success for France and Romania". International Table Tennis Federation. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  10. ^ Santangelo, Roberto (25 July 2018). "Tennistavolo, Europei giovanili individuali 2018: Andrea Puppo oro nel doppio misto cadetti". OA Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Arbitri italiani nelle fasi conclusive degli Europei Giovanili" (in Italian). Federazione Italiana Tennistavolo [it]. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  12. ^ a b "Championnats de France minimes – juniors tennis de table 2019". Tennis2Table (in French). 21 April 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  13. ^ "J8 : en direct d'Ostrava" (in French). Fédération française de tennis de table [fr]. 14 July 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  14. ^ "Résultats des Championnats de France Seniors 2022 de tennis de table". Tennis2Table (in French). 26 June 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Europe Trophy 2024: Fabio et son équipe décrochent la médaille de bronze". NewsMada (in French). 4 June 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Panathinaikos AC Clinched the Title in Grand Final Europe Trophy". European Table Tennis Union. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  17. ^ "Tennis de table : Fabio Rakotoarimanana, le fer de lance de l'équipe malagasy". NewsMada (in French). 24 February 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  18. ^ Rasanda, Serge (13 March 2023). "TENNIS DE TABLE – AFRIQUE DE L'EST - Fabio et Karen sacrés champions". L'Express de Madagascar (in French). Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  19. ^ Rasanda, Serge (5 May 2023). "TENNIS DE TABLE - Fabio, Antoine et Karen en huitièmes". L'Express de Madagascar (in French). Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Tennis de table – Coupe d'Afrique: Antoine Razafinarivo s'invite dans le dernier carré". NewsMada (in French). 6 May 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  21. ^ Raherinjatovo, Donné (27 July 2023). "Jeux de la Francophonie - Fabio et Laura seront les porte-drapeaux malgaches". L'Express de Madagascar (in French). Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  22. ^ Rasanda, Serge (4 August 2023). "Jeux de la Francophonie - Le pongiste Fabio et la judokate Narindra en argent". L'Express de Madagascar (in French). Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  23. ^ "JIOI – Réunion du CIJ : la pétanque et le karaté en suspens". Le Mauricien (in French). 24 August 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  24. ^ Chapuiset, Olivier (27 August 2023). "JIOI 2023 | Tennis de table: deux victoires pour les Mauriciennes". L'Express (in French). Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  25. ^ a b c Rasanda, Serge (18 September 2023). "TENNIS DE TABLE – DOUBLE MESSIEURS - Fabio et Antoine sur le toit continental". L'Express de Madagascar (in French). Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  26. ^ "Tennis de table: Fabio Rakotoarimanana améliore son rang". NewsMada (in French). 28 February 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  27. ^ "ITTF World Championships Finals 2024 Day 3". International Table Tennis Federation. 18 February 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  28. ^ Rasanda, Serge (10 March 2024). "TENNIS DE TABLE – JEUX AFRICAINS - Le duo Fabio-Karen en bronze". L'Express de Madagascar (in French). Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  29. ^ Samson, Heriniaina (27 April 2024). "Tennis de table : Hanitra et Fabio sacrés champions d'Afrique de l'Est". Midi Madagasikara (in French). Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  30. ^ "Tennis de table – Championnat d'Afrique de l'Est : l'équipe masculine malgache reste sur le trône". NewsMada (in French). 24 April 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  31. ^ a b "History-maker Madagascar's Rakotoarimanana seals ticket to Paris at African Qualification Tournament". International Table Tennis Federation. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  32. ^ Rasanda, Serge (28 July 2024). "TENNIS DE TABLE - Fabio Rakotoarimanana cède devant un Égyptien". L'Express de Madagascar (in French). Retrieved 9 August 2024.
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