The second round of the Tokyo Paralympics and Boccia individual qualifying league was held on the 29th, and Japanese captain Hidetaka Sugimura won the second straight victory over Canadian players, while ace Takayuki Hirose experienced the first black star. I did.

Boccia is a competition designed for people with severe disabilities such as cerebral palsy by throwing red and blue balls to compete for how much they can get closer to the white target ball "Jackball", Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo. It is held at the gymnasium.



In the individual qualifying league that started on the 28th, Japanese captain Sugimura faced the second round against Canadian players in a class with mild disabilities such as cerebral palsy.



At the 1st and 2nd ends, Sugimura drew the ball to the target ball one after another with accurate control and accumulated points, leading a big 6-0.



The 3rd and 4th ends were caught up due to some mistakes, but they escaped 6-4 and won the qualifying league for the second time in a row.



On the other hand, Ace Hirose, who participated in four consecutive tournaments, played against a Hong Kong player who ranked 7th in the world ranking, and was pushed by the opponent's accurate pitching to lead and returned 1 point to the final end. However, I lost 1 to 6.

The qualifying league is now 1 win and 1 loss.



In this class, 4 players will be divided into 6 groups to play round robin, and the top 2 players from the 1st and 2nd place players will advance to the final tournament.



In addition, in classes with severe disabilities such as cerebral palsy, Takumi Nakamura lost to a Chinese player 2 to 6 to 1 win and 1 loss, and Yuriko Fujii also lost to a Brazilian player 2 to 5. It was 2 losses.



In the class with the most obstacles, Kazuki Takahashi defeated Portuguese player 9-0 to 1 win and 1 loss, and Keisuke Kawamoto lost to Korean player at the tiebreaker end after 5 to 5. It was 1 win and 1 loss.



In the class of disabilities other than cerebral palsy, Shun Esaki lost to a British player 2 to 3 and lost 2 times.



The individual qualifying league will run until the 30th.

Sugimura "I made a big mistake and want to fix it."

Sugimura, who won the second straight victory, said, "I was able to win, but I made a big mistake, so I'd like to correct it. I'd like to connect it to tomorrow's game again."



Regarding the topic of "Sugimura Ising", which puts the ball you throw on the ball on the court, "I'm glad if you are interested in boccia in such a place, and it also leads to support for me. I hope you can help me. "

Hirose "There was a small deviation of 1 mm and 2 mm."

Hirose, who won 1 win and 1 loss, said, "I think the tactics themselves were not wrong, but there was a small gap. I think it's a change of 1 mm and 2 mm, so I think it will be work to correct that. I lost. There were a lot of good parts, so I'd like to take advantage of them and play tomorrow's game. "

The most impaired class assistant and "Aun" breathing

In the class with the most disabilities of boccia, the "assistant" who supports the competition will pair with the athlete to participate in the competition.



Players in this class cannot throw the ball on their own, so they roll the ball with a slide-like device called a "ramp."



It is the role of the assistant to move this lamp and adjust the position, direction, height, etc. according to the player's instructions.



Assistants are prohibited from giving advice or cues to players and cannot follow the whereabouts of the ball with their eyes, so they always turn their backs on the court.



While you cannot see the game development yourself, you need to have the ability to understand the instructions of the players and execute them accurately, and a relationship of trust with the players is indispensable.



In the match of the day, Keisuke Kawamoto's assistant, Yukio Kawamoto, and Kazuki Takahashi's assistant, Yushiro Togeda, supported the players by finely adjusting the ramp while turning their backs to the court.



Mr. Togeda said, "It's terribly frustrating" about not being able to see the game development, but "I think you could see the breathing of Aun with Takahashi. It's a role that only I can do, so it's very rewarding. I feel it. "



Takahashi, who won 9-0 in the match on the 29th, said, "As long as there is a match, I want to play with 100% of my strength as a pair with Mr. Togeda."