Jenson van Emburgh

Started: He took up table tennis at age nine in 2010, having previously tried Para ice hockey, wheelchair tennis and wheelchair basketball. (Athlete, 22 Aug 2021; YouTube channel, 19 Jul 2020; teamusa.org, 01 Jan 2020) Reason: He took up the sport after watching his brother play tennis. "I wasn't very good at tennis due to how disabled I am and wanted to find a sport that would be more of a fair playing ground and found table tennis was it." (ABC Action News YouTube channel, 15 Nov 2017; sunrisetabletennis.com, 04 Oct 2017) Ambition: To win gold at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (gofundme.com, 15 Dec 2023) Awards: He was named Wheelchair Athlete of the Year for 2019 by USA Table Tennis [USATT]. (teamusa.org, 01 Jan 2020) Additional Info: OTHER ACTIVITIES In November 2020 he was appointed to the USA Table Tennis [USATT] Athletes' Advisory Council. His four-year term on the council began in January 2021. (teamusa.org, 13 Nov 2020)

Sporting Relatives: His father Greg Van Emburgh played professional tennis. He won six Association of Tennis Professionals [ATP] doubles titles and reached the Wimbledon men's doubles semifinals in 1990. His older brother Jake has played tennis for the University of Oklahoma in the United States of America. (YouTube channel, 19 Jul 2020; topnotchmanagement.com, 13 Aug 2020)