The tournament, held in group league and knockout matches, brought together disabled persons over 12 years old and amateurs over 35, more than 650 in all.

In this regard, KCNA met Ri Pun Hui, secretary of the Korean Sports Association for the Disabled.

Ri said:

"We organized this tournament in an aim to help promote understandings and establish the habit of giving cooperation between the disabled and amateurs. Such a kind of tournament can hardly be seen in other countries.

The top players were awarded medals, diplomas and prizes."

Ma Yu Chol, 21, a handicapped person, said:

"I've liked sports very much from my childhood. At the age of 6, I became disabled in a traffic accident.

When I graduated from a secondary school, I was vexed at the sight of my schoolmates joining the army. But, now I am very pleased to take the title in the tournament.

Any person can give full play to his or her talents in our country."

Julie Nuttens, country director of European Union Programme Support-Unit 7 in Pyongyang, said that the tournament is of weighty significance as it is held with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (Dec. 3) as an occasion and the DPRK attended the London 2012 Paralympic Games for the first time this year.

The amateur table-tennis tournament has taken place on a yearly basis from Juche 99 (2010).