INTERVIEW-Paralympics-Olympian Partyka beats China at own game

By Liu Zhen

BEIJING, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Polish teenager Natalia Partyka is one of only two athletes to take part in both the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics but she is also doing something few else have managed this summer -- beating the Chinese at table tennis.

The 19-year-old, who was born with a right arm that ends at the elbow, played without success in last month's Olympic team competition but returned to the Peking University Gymnasium this week with loftier ambitions.

"My goal is the gold, of course," said Partyka, who has progressed to the semi-finals with three consecutive 3-0 wins over her group opponents, including Athens bronze medallist Li Yuqiang of China.

"Both Games were very important for me. In the Olympics there were lots of players better than me, but here I know I can win the gold medal," she told Reuters in an interview.

"A lot of people think I will win the gold medal very easily but it's the Paralympics, everybody wants to win. It's a big pressure but I hope I can play very well."

To retain the women's singles title she won in her disability class in her second Paralympics four years ago, she will have to beat another Chinese player in the final on Thursday.

"Table tennis is very popular in China so the atmosphere in the venue is very nice," she said. "It's not like in Europe where there are sometimes no spectators."

Partyka, who took up the paddle at the age of seven, serves using her shortened arm to toss the ball into the air and her excellent footwork ensures she feels no disadvantage against able-bodied competitors.

She participated in her first Paralympics in Sydney in 2000, the youngest athlete of the Games at 11-years-old, and four years later in Athens she won gold.

At the world team championships earlier this year she defeated Singapore's world number six Li Jia Wei, a victory Partyka will "remember for a long time".

"Once I won some matches and tournaments I knew that I was good at it .... I started having some dreams," she said.

"I had a lot of dreams. I also dreamt about the Olympics, so now my dreams have come true."

The world number 148 said she took part in the Beijing Olympics just for the experience and now has her sights set on London 2012.

"The most important thing for sure is the next Olympics, and after four years I'd like to take part in both team and in singles," she said.

"I know I have to practise a lot if I want to be a top player but I believe that if I play a lot and practise a lot, I have the chance to be in the top 20 in the world -- I'd love that." (Editing by Nick Mulvenney and Peter Rutherford)