Ibrahim Hamato suffered a severe accident at age 10 that cost him both of his arms. However, according to him, his bigger loss was of his ability to play his favorite game; table tennis. Interestingly, this determined youngster did not waste time moping. Hamato, who resides in Egypt, wouldn’t let the accident deter him from playing the sport he loved. Just three years after losing both his arms, Hamato got creative and developed a strategy to play table tennis without his arms.
The video which has already gone viral across multiple sites shows Hamato playing the game he loves so dearly. Ibrahim just visited the 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Tokyo and met the top-ranked players in the sport. In the video, he explains his technique.
“Three years after my accident I wanted to play again holding the racket under my arm, but it didn’t work out. After trying different options I found myself playing with my mouth,” reported USA Today .
While his gameplay is certainly impressive, his ‘serve’ is what amazes the audience the most. Ibrahim plays the game by holding the bat in his mouth. His shots are mostly reactive and seldom does he go on the offensive. His strategy perhaps involves tiring the opponent with his relentless and simplistic gameplay.
Since a serve usually mandates usage of both the arms, Hamato holds the ball in his leg and shoots it upwards like a footballer, before hitting the same across the table with the bat held firmly in his mouth.
Ibrahim Hamato has gotten so good at the game, he earned an official invitation to the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Tokyo, Japan, where the amputee wants to show the world his skills.
As Mr. Hamato told the NY Daily News , “I hope this shows people that nothing is impossible as long as you work hard.”
With incredible concentration, Ibrahim Hamato successfully stands–up to the world champions responding with come–backs that are bound to mesmerize even skilled players. Amputees like Hamato aren’t uncommon to this world and there are many success stories , but Ibrahim has now set his sights on the Paralympic games. If you see the video, you too will root for him.
[Images via Bing]
