Coughlan ‘s silver feeling Central Queensland today

Author: Liam Emerton

Local table tennis superstar Joel Coughlan returned home this week and brought with him a special history.

The Coughlans Tokyo Paralympic Silver Medal made the trip back to Rocky from the Coughlans side, and on Monday night our local star brought his awards home from where the trip began, to Leichhardt Park Center.

Coughlan was adopted by club members, including coach Pam Clarke, president Allan Clarke and training partner Matthew Pettett.

Coughlan proudly presented his silver medal, which he won in a Class 9-10 team event with Lin Ma.

Speaking on Monday, Coughlan reflects on the incredible journey and how great an experience it was.

Im just excited to go home to see the lady and child be honest, she said.

It was different than you expected. I think the whole Australian crowd was the best part of it.

Hearing people from other sports and their stories of how they got there and what they had done was a highlight for me.

I’ve always wanted to compete against the best in the world and get rid of gorgeous silver.

It was my first multi-sport event with a huge Australian team and the party was fantastic.

His dream of representing Australia at the Paralympics came true, and Coughlan chose a single point medal attempt in a pinch of moment.

The day we won our quarterfinals, we got to the guaranteed bronze, he said.

It was pretty big for us. We took seeds number two.

From there we were guaranteed a medal, we just had to make it more shiny.

Coughlans coach for 25 years Pam Clarke was incredibly proud of Coughlan and his incredible achievement.

It’s great to see him back. He’s been through so much just since returning home and today I’m the first time I’ve seen him, so it’s awesome to see him home, Clarke said.

Personally, I was very excited to watch it at home and watched every point.

When I realized they had gotten into the gold medal playoffs, I jumped around.

I have known him since I was eight and he has always worked hard and he has worked very hard for the last couple of years as well.

It’s been a bit of a roller coaster just to get him there, but obviously worth it.

Matthew Pettett trained with Coughlan almost every day until the Paralympics before Coughlans needed quarantine, and said he was so happy to see his partner get what he deserved.

It’s awesome, I couldn’t be happier for him, Pettett said.

He lowered his butt and earned 100 percent of everything he got.

If there are kids in CQ looking for a sport that can take you to represent your country, table tennis can take you there, and Joel pointed it out.