Paralympics: Japan beats boccia giant South Korea in mixed team prelims

From Kyodo

September 4 2024

PARIS – Japan on Tuesday defeated powerhouse South Korea on the first day of mixed gender boccia events at the Paris Paralympics to advance to the BC1\BC2 quarterfinals.

The team got off to a three-point lead in the three-a-side wheelchair event before the South Koreans briefly recovered to tie the match, only for Japan to score two more times to win 5-3 at South Paris Arena.

“I wanted to smash my regrets from the individual event,” said team captain and Tokyo Games gold medalist Hidetaka Sugimura, who lost his individual crown to eventual champion Worawut Saengampa of Thailand in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

“The three of us increased the time we spent together, and I think that helped us to enter the match in good spirits and led us to victory,” he said of teammates Hiromi Endo and Takayuki Hirose.

The victory is significant as Japan has only ever won one Paralympic boccia gold since the sport’s introduction in 1984, while South Korea is the most successful nation with 11 titles.

Boccia is one of two Paralympic sports with no Olympic equivalent, the other being goalball. It was originally developed for people with coordination impairments, but now has several categories to include individuals with various degrees of disability.

The sport has four classes. BC1 athletes typically use an electric wheelchair and BC3 athletes can use a ramp to propel the balls, with players in both classes able to be assisted by a person who carries out their commands. BC2 and BC4 athletes compete independently.

Japan had less fortune in the mixed-gender BC3 pairs event, with Masayuki Arita and Ayane Ichinoe losing to Australia 5-2.

“Our loss means our journey ends here, but we were able to show how much we practiced,” said Paralympic first-timer Ichinoe, 18, who has cerebral palsy. “When I get back to Japan I want to give thanks to everybody who supported us.”