| Matti Launonen | |
| Birth Place: | Kuopio, Finland[1] |
| Residence: | Florida, United States--> |
| Death Place: | Atlantis, Florida, U.S. |
| Sport: | Para table tennis |
| Disability: | Spinal cord injury |
| Disability Class: | C1 |
Matti Launonen (31 May 1944[2] [3] – 23 March 2019) was a Finnish para table tennis player who competed until his sudden death in 2019. He was one of the first table tennis players to win a world title in the para table tennis championships in Assen, Netherlands and a European title in Salou, Spain.[4]
Launonen was seriously injured aged 18 in a car accident while travelling at more than 80 km/h, the car he was driving had handbrake fault and he couldn't stop the car: the car suddenly turned and rolled around.
He had a fall at his home and suffered a leg injury but died at hospital aged 74 in Florida.[5]