Xiaoxin Yang has once again put Monaco on the Mediterranean Games podium, winning silver in the women’s table tennis tournament in Taranto.
The result completes an impressive hat-trick for the Monegasque player: silver in Tarragona in 2018, gold in Oran four years later and now another silver at the 2026 Games. Yet this latest medal may carry particular significance. Yang returned to competition less than a year ago following a break for motherhood.
She began her campaign in commanding fashion, sweeping aside Spain’s Elvira Rad Hind and Portugal’s Mariana Pineu without dropping a game. France’s Camille Lutz provided a sterner test in the quarter-finals, but Yang prevailed 4–1 before defeating Serbia’s Izabela Lupulesku by the same score in the semi-final.
That set up a showdown with Egypt’s Hana Goda for the gold medal.
Yang edged a fiercely contested opening game 12–10, but Goda responded strongly. The pivotal third game could scarcely have been closer, with the Egyptian taking it 12–10 before going on to secure a 4–1 victory.
There was understandable disappointment immediately after the final, but it quickly gave way to satisfaction.
“I am very happy with my tournament,” Yang said. “After the final, I was a little disappointed not to win gold. But looking back, I think the result is positive. I returned to the circuit less than a year ago, after my maternity break. It is a good comeback and a fine progression.”
More than another addition to an already distinguished medal collection, Taranto provided encouraging evidence that Yang is rapidly rediscovering her finest form.
With the Los Angeles Olympic Games now only two years away, Monaco’s table tennis star has returned to the international podium, and LA 2028 is already firmly in her sights.
