Five new players, including Hidetaka Sugimura, who won the silver medal at the Rio de Janeiro tournament, have been appointed as the representative of Japan for the Tokyo Paralympic Games and Boccia.
Designed for people with severe motor disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, the ball game boccia throws red and blue balls to compete for how close they can be to a white ball.
Regarding the Japan national team of the Tokyo Paralympics, four people have already been unofficially decided at the Japan Championship in December, but the Japan Boccia Association has announced the unofficially decided of five new players based on the world ranking etc. ..
Among the members of the Rio de Janeiro tournament and the group silver medal, Hidetaka Sugimura in classes such as cerebral palsy and Yuriko Fujii in classes with severe disabilities such as cerebral palsy have both decided to participate in the Paralympics for the third consecutive tournament.
In the class with the most severe disabilities, Kazuki Takahashi participated in two consecutive tournaments, and Keiko Tanaka participated for the first time.
In addition, Wataru Komitsu will participate for the first time in classes with disabilities other than cerebral palsy.
With this, a total of nine Japanese representatives from Boccia have been unofficially decided, but for the remaining one of the host country slots, the international convention will be postponed due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, and the degree of disability will be decided. It means that it is not possible to make an offer because there is no classification.
The association is confirming the future outlook with the IPC = International Paralympic Committee.
Hidetaka Sugimura
Hidetaka Sugimura is 38 years old from Ito City, Shizuoka Prefecture.
He has had cerebral palsy since he was born, and Boccia began at the age of 19 when he was recommended by a staff member of a facility for the disabled.
With precise control, he served as the captain of the last Rio de Janeiro tournament and served as the commander of the team competition, contributing to Japan's first silver medal.
At the Japan Championships in Athletics, I lost to Hiroki Se, a member of the same group, in the final, but this time I was offered three consecutive tournaments.
Yuriko Fujii
Yuriko Fujii is 48 years old from Uozu City, Toyama Prefecture.
Fujii, who became cerebral palsy at the age of 10 months, started boccia in his late 20s.
He contributed to the group's silver medal at the previous Rio de Janeiro Games, which was his second Paralympic appearance.
He won the silver medal of the group at the world championship three years ago, but unfortunately missed the offer because he lost to a young player in the final at the Japan championship the following year.
With this offer, Fujii has participated in the Paralympics for the third consecutive tournament.
Kazuki Takahashi
Kazuki Takahashi is 40 years old from Soka City, Saitama Prefecture.
Takahashi broke his neck during a judo match when he was in the second year of high school, and he couldn't move from the neck down.
Boccia started after the bid was decided to participate in the Tokyo Paralympics, and after only two years of competition, he participated in the Rio de Janeiro Games.
At last year's Asia-Oceania Championship, he won the silver medal for the first time in the pair with the heaviest disability.
The Tokyo Paralympics will be participating in two consecutive tournaments.
Wataru Komitsu
Wataru Komitsu is 35 years old from Hiroshima City.
I started boccia eight years ago with a congenital intractable disease, "spinal muscular atrophy."
After practicing while working at Hiroshima City Hall, I won the Japan Championship four years ago for the first time.
We are aiming to win medals at the first Paralympic Games in Tokyo by further refining the accuracy of pitching, which is a characteristic of the game.
Keiko Tanaka
Keiko Tanaka is 38 years old from Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture.
Tanaka, who has cerebral palsy, learned about boccia at a facility for the disabled where he lived in his early twenties and started playing.
At last year's Asia-Oceania Championship, he won the silver medal for the first time in the pair with the heaviest disability.
The Paralympic Games will be the first to participate in the Tokyo Games.