By Jerome S. Galunan, Jr.

Table tennis player Ian Lariba, who competed for the Philippines at the 2016 Summer Olympics Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, recently passed away after years of battling leukemia.

According to Philippine Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) President Ting Ledesma, she was arguably the greatest player in her field.

“From qualifying [for] the Olympics to battling cancer, she was a fighter and true table tennis ambassador,” the federation said in a statement. “She put Philippine table tennis in newspapers, television, and social media outfits – a sport which was not given much importance before in our country.”/JSG, WDJ