Thailand and Portugal battle for top honours at 2nd Fazza International Boccia Competition

Thailand and Portugal players were a cut above the rest after two days of action in the 2nd Fazza International Boccia Competition at the Dubai Club for the Disabled in Al Qusais.

Hosts UAE gained some consolation victories in BC2 category through Rania Saleh Rashid, Hamda Mohammed Beljafla and Soltan Al Ketbi on Sunday.

However, Thailand and Portugal stars topped their pools to book their places in the semifinals.

Held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, it is organised and supervised by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center and Dubai Club for the Disabled with the support of the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare, Dubai Sports Council and the UAE Paralympic Committee.

Boccia is a highly specialised competitive sport for people with cerebral palsy or related neurological conditions and is practiced in more than 50 countries today.

A total number of 51 players from nine countries including hosts UAE with 14 players are participating in the 2nd Fazza International Boccia Competition.

This is first sport of its kind for people with neurological disabilities in the Middle East.

The 1st Fazza International Boccia Competition hosted 41 players from across eight countries in May last year – including the UAE, Iraq, Thailand, Malaysia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Tunisia and Portugal.

Qatar is the newest entry to this year's Fazza International Boccia Competition.

The four-day Fazza Boccia Competition will conclude with the semifinals and finals on Tuesday April 21.

UAE win

UAE players asserted their supremacy in the region and proved they are a force to be reckoned with at international level.

Rania displayed her determination and accuracy to outclass her male rival Husain Jaafar Omran from Bahrain 10-2 to secure third place in pool 3 of BC2.

Hamda Beljafla beat Qatar’s Mohamed Abdo Alsadi 6-2 to gain third place in pool 4 of BC2.

Soltan Al Ketbi won a close fought tie against Minwawer Deychi of Tunisia 4-3 but had to be content with third place in pool 1 of BC2 on points difference.

BC2

Watcharaphon Vongsa spearheaded Thailand’s charge to the podium by rolling over UAE’s Salem Al Kaabi 21-0 to top pool 1 of BC2 with an incredible 58-0 score in his three games.

One of three winners from Thailand in the inaugural Fazza International Boccia Competition who have returned to defend their titles, 24 year-old Vongsa will face Malaysia’s Lee Chee Hong in the semifinals.

Lee topped pool 3 with an impressive 44-2 record while Portugal’s Abilio Valente will face Tunisia’s Achref Tayahi in the other semifinal.

Valente survived a scare against Malaysia’s Mohammad Sayfiq bin Mohd Nor in his final match before winning a closely contest match 4-3 to top pool 2 with a 47-3 scoreline. Tayahi headed pool 4 with wins over Mohammad Al Mahdi (Kuwait), Hamda Beljafla (UAE) and Abdo Alsadi (Qatar).

Debutants Qatar recorded their first win of the competition when Mohammed Faraj Al Marri defeated UAE’s Rania Saleh Rashid 10-1.

Thailand

“We are confident of winning gold medals this time as well,” said Thailand team coach Vithasit Youngpradist who was pleased with the performance of their five-member team.

“We trained for a short period of just one month and are using this as a preparation for Rio Paralympics qualification events to be held in Hong Kong and South Korea in June and July this year,” said Youngpradist who is also the general secretary of Cerebral Palsy Sport Association of Thailand.

“We have a group of 100 players back and our aim is to win medals at the Paralympic Game. We have several training camps and train and players train six hours a day,” he added.

Thailand won the team gold in both BC1 and BC2 categories at the London Paralympic Games in 2012 in addition to winning seven medals, including three gold, at the Incheon Para Asian Games last year.

He was grateful for the opportunity granted by the Dubai Club for the Disabled in staging the 2nd Fazza International Boccia Competition.

“The standard of competition has been very high. The organization of the event has been excellent. The emergence of new world class players has added the toughness of competition and helped our players in preparing for future contests,” added Youngpradist.

BC 4

Thailand's Pornchok Larpyen, gold medalist in the BC4 category in the inaugural Fazza International Boccia Competition last year, was the first to qualify for the semifinals in BC4 from pool 3 by snuffing out the challenge from UAE’s Ahmed Essa Aljazeeri 9-1.

He will face Portugal’s Pedro da Clara who beat UAE’s Ayesha Essa Almehairi 9-0 and later in the evening partnered Fernando Pereira to win the doubles contest against Iraqi pair Asil Abbas and Ihab Ahmed Abdel Ridha 12-0.

Pereira who beat Ridha 9-1 for his second win in pool 2 is expected to face Thailand’s Nuanchan Phonsila who is making her debut on the international stage. The 37 year-old outclassed Kuwait’s Tahani Ismael 16-0 to notch her second win in pool 4.

BC1

Thailand’s Pattaya Tadtong, winner in Dubai last year at the inaugural Fazza International Boccia Competition, continued to roll over all opposition with impressive wins over Ayman Rajah Alheddi (Bahrain) 20-0 and Salah Abdi Alalili (UAE) to remain on top of the six-player pool 1 in BC1 with three wins.

Ranked number three in the world, Pattaya, 36, is a gold medalist at the Incheon Para Asian Games last year.

Malaysia’s Lean Chin Kit, a bronze medalist at the Para Asean Games in Myanmar last year, is also among the favourites to qualify to the semifinals.

Lean got a walkover from UAE’s Hamad Yousef Altahri and beat Boubaker Heli of Tunisia 8-1 to notch his third win and top pool 2.

Boccia categories

BC1 - Players with Cerebral Palsy who are able to use their hands or feet to consistently propel a ball into play. BC1 athletes may have an aide outside the competition court to pass them their ball upon request or to amend the wheelchair and ensure its firmness.

BC2 - Players with Cerebral Palsy who are able to use their hands to consistently propel a ball into play and have greater functional ability than a BC1 athlete and are not allowed to have any aide.

BC3 - Players with Cerebral Palsy or other disability with locomotor dysfunction in all four limbs who are unable to throw or kick a ball into play and as such are permitted to use an assistive device such as a ramp to propel the ball into play and are supported by an assistant. The assistant has to look away with their backs to the court.

BC4 - Players who do not have Cerebral Palsy but have another disability with locomotor dysfunction in all four limbs and have similar functional ability to BC2 athletes. Disabilities such as Muscular Dystrophy and Tetraplegia will fall under this classification as long as they prove able to throw the ball efficiently and are not allowed to have any aide or assistance.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.