Daniela Di Toro’s sixth Paralympics a whole new ball game

THE aim is still much the same. But for Victorian wheelchair athlete Daniela Di Toro, her sixth Paralympics will be a totally different ball game.

Daniela Di Toro is off to her sixth Paralympics, but is now competing in a new sport. Picture: Colleen Petch

THE aim is still much the same.

But for Victorian wheelchair athlete Daniela Di Toro, her sixth Paralympics will be a totally different ball game.

Di Toro has switched her tennis racquet with a table tennis bat for Rio.

But after scaling the heights of wheelchair tennis, the two-time Paralympic medallist will approach her first Paralympic table tennis competition with no expectations whatsoever.

An accident that left her with serious chemical burns in November 2012 — injuries that left her virtually bedridden for eight months — ended her tennis career once and for all.

Still though those competitive juices stirred inside her.

When she could she ventured down to her local table tennis club to get out of the house.

But when she entered the Oceania playoffs for a spot on the table tennis team for Rio, she never truly believed she was in with a shot.

“I know how difficult it is to fill a draw, particularly in a seeded wheelchair division, because in tennis we have the same problem,” Di Toro said

“I was playing in my everyday chair, I didn’t know how to serve properly, I didn’t know the rules.

“I certainly wasn’t the best table tennis player there, but I was the most experienced athlete and a lot of those clutch environments are down to how you maintain your mind.

“It was never really pretty, but it resulted in me winning that wildcard.”

Daniela Di Toro is off to her sixth Paralympics. Picture: Colleen Petch

Growing up in Victoria’s Endeavour Hills, Di Toro said: “We didn’t have a lot, but we had a shitty table tennis table and we could play all day long”.

Never any more than a table tennis “hack”, Di Toro knew the switch from tennis would be tough, but just not how tough.

“The second you start hitting a ball you’re like ‘holy shit’,” she said.

“In table tennis it’s crazy how quickly the points can go, the pace of the ball, the spin on the ball, the size of the court, the size of your working space.

“There are things from tennis sometimes that don’t help my table tennis game, but there are some things that I do with the ball that are very tennis shots that a lot of table tennis players don’t do.

“So I kind of feel like in a way that we’re creating a new way to play to a degree.”

When she was 13 Di Toro lost the use of her legs after a brick wall collapsed on her at a school swimming carnival.

Eight years later she went to the Atlanta 1996 Paralympics.

But this time is extra significant for the 41-year-old, not just because of the change of sports but because she will also be the Australian team’s co-captain along with Kurt Fearnley.

If it wasn’t for the captaincy, Di Toro may not be there at all.

Daniela Di Toro will co-captain the Australian Paralympic team. Picture: Colleen Petch

To cement her wildcard status in the table tennis field, Di Toro needed to compete at an overseas tournament after the Oceania qualifiers.

She did so in South Korea late last year, but she was left wondering if it was such a good idea to go to Rio after losing all 13 matches she played.

That was until she got a call from Paralympic Chef de Mission Kate McLoughin, who revealed the “special plans” in store for her if she did take her spot on the team.

“We haven’t had a captain for the past two Games, but it’s something that Kate thought was missing,” Di Toro said.

“I was very happy to do it, but I had no interest in just being a ceremonial figurehead, I thought there was real value to be had, that the role could have an incredible impact not just for this team but also laying some great foundations for following teams.

“In the last six months we’ve done a lot of work on the ground with a lot of the athletes around the country. I’m really keen to see how it plays out.”

Originally published as Daniela Di Toro’s sixth Paralympics a whole new ball game