Table tennis para athlete Lhey Marie Manginsay (PSC photo)
MANILA – Table tennis athlete Lhey Marie Manginsay has been selected to carry the Philippine flag during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Asian Youth Para Games in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Dec. 10.
The opening ceremony will be held at Dubai Club for People of Determination Stadium.
A native of Zamboanga Sibugay, Manginsay delivered a breakthrough performance at the 2025 ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) World Para Future Taipei in Taiwan last June when she snared the country’s lone gold medal in the mixed doubles class XD17-Group 1 with Jan Wildfreed Redulla.
Last year, she turned heads after beating a national team player for the singles gold medal in the 8th Philippine National Para Games, while adding two silver medals.
“This is not just an honor, but a responsibility because as a flag-bearer, I am also carrying the hopes and stories of every Filipino para athlete, especially the youth who dream of being in this position someday,” Manginsay said in a news release Monday.
Manginsay is one of four para table tennis bets in the 48-player PH delegation, which will compete in nine of 11 sports.
Some 1,500 para athletes from 35 Asian countries are competing in the fifth edition, with the Filipinos hoping to surpass their previous haul of one gold, six silver and two bronze medals in 2021 Bahrain.