Table Tennis-Syrian 12-year-old, Tokyo Games' youngest competitor, exits in first round

Zaza was battling an opponent more than three times her age in 39-year-old Liu Jia in the women's singles preliminary round but showed no sign of nerves, maintaining her composure despite a 4-0 defeat.

"The main lesson was losing this match, especially in the first match. So next time, I will be working hard to pass the first, second, third round, because I want to play more in this competition," she added. "Yesterday I asked my daughter, 'Do you know your mother is playing against someone two years older than you?' Her first response was, 'Then you better not lose!'"But there's sport and there's life. There are people who have to endure difficulties. They are amazing, it hasn't been easy for them. She's a girl too -- to be in an Olympics at 12, in my heart I really admire her," she added.

She has been able to participate in only two or three external matches a year due to the Syrian civil war, her coach Adham Jamaan has said.But Zaza beat the odds after winning the West Asia Olympic qualification tournament in Jordan last year, becoming the first Syrian paddler to qualify for the Olympics.

Awww :(

She got to the Olympics at 12. Puts her in the top 99 percentile...

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