Sam von Einem’s Rio dream born in Abu Dhabi

SAM von Einem’s Rio dream began in a concrete bunker in Abu Dhabi. He just didn’t know it at the time.

Samuel von Einem trains at Woodville District Table Tennis club. Picture: Mark Brake

SAM von Einem’s Rio dream began in a concrete bunker in Abu Dhabi.

He just didn’t know it at the time.

There, sheltered from the scorching desert heat, hitting table tennis balls against mum, dad, whoever was willing to get beaten by an eight-year-old.

“I just kept playing,” von Einem shrugs.

“I started winning — and, well, everyone loves winning.”

Thirteen years ago the now 21-year-old travelled with his family from Adelaide to the United Arab Emirates as part of an international secondment for his engineer father.

For three years the family lived in the country — but the extreme heat meant his favoured outdoor sports including tennis were virtually impossible to play.

Instead, indoor sports that could be honed in air-conditioned comfort took over.

And with their son’s strong tennis background, the von Einems introduced a table tennis table.

“Our home was basically a concrete bunker,” Mum Karen said.

“The houses there are huge, so in one of the rooms you have a table tennis table, because you’ve got so many rooms it doesn’t matter.”

Von Einem continued his rapid improvement when the family returned to Adelaide, in competition at Woodville District Table Tennis Club.

His representative under-age career launched when he was selected on SA’s under-13s team, and extended to earning a place in Table Tennis Australia’s under-18 squad to contest a world junior circuit event in New Zealand in 2012.

Yet in the background, a pattern of communication challenges that had dated back to von Einem’s childhood were confirmed during his teens as mild autism.

The diagnosis opened the possibility that von Einem could qualify for para-sport classification under strict international standards.

“I played able-bodied through most of my junior years and when I was 15 I found out I was autistic,” von Einem said.

“When I found out I could get into para-sport, that was pretty big, because I knew that I could potentially go to the Paralympics.”

Today, von Einem remains South Australia’s No. 2 ranked men’s player in open class. He has held the state’s top ranking in under-13s, under-15s, under-18s and under-21s.

He is world No. 6 in his class 11 (intellectual) category, and has secured selection to make his Paralympics debut as part of Australia’s five-person table tennis team in Rio in September.

“It’s fantastic,” he said.

“Australia loves its sport so it’s a privilege to represent it at the biggest championship for disabled athletes.”

Von Einem’s biggest moment came last year when he won singles gold in Spanish and Thailand Paralympic Opens.

He said selection for the Paralympics topped those achievements, and he was hopeful of capitalising on his chances on the biggest stage.

“I’m No. 6 in the world now, so I know I have a chance for a medal,” he said.

“It’s going to be really difficult to get one. But I believe that I can. Anything is possible.”

This year’s Paralympics run from September 7-18.

Originally published as Sam von Einem’s Rio dream born in Abu Dhabi