Matti Launonen (31 May 1944[2][3] – 23 March 2019) was a Finnish para table tennis player who competed until his sudden death in 2019. He was one of the first table tennis players to win a world title in the para table tennis championships in Assen, Netherlands and a European title in Salou, Spain.[4]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 31 May 1944 Kuopio, Finland[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 23 March 2019 (aged 74) Atlantis, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country |  Finland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Para table tennis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Spinal cord injury | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | C1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Launonen was seriously injured aged 18 in a car accident while travelling at more than 80 km/h, the car he was driving had handbrake fault and he couldn't stop the car: the car suddenly turned and rolled around.
He had a fall at his home and suffered a leg injury but died at hospital aged 74 in Florida.[5]
References edit
- ^ "Merkittäviä pelaajia" (in Finnish). Kuopio Table Tennis Club. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- ^ Heikkinen, Esko (24 March 2019). "Matti Launonen on kuollut" (in Finnish). Finnish Table Tennis Association. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- ^ "Athens 2004 Paralympic Games - Table Tennis - Official Results Book". ipc-services.org. International Paralympic Committee. 19 September 2004.
- ^ "IPTTC Profile - Matti Launonen". International Para Table Tennis Federation. 28 March 2019.
- ^ "Matti Launonen, a true great of para sport, passes away". ittf.com. 27 March 2019.