One year before the opening of the Tokyo Paralympic Games, the Japan Para Games of Boccia, a ball game of para sports, were held, and Tokyo Paralympic silver medalist Keiko Tanaka showed her ability by winning the first match.

Boccia is a parasport devised for people with severe disabilities such as cerebral palsy, in which 6 red balls and 6 blue balls are thrown at each other to compete as close as possible to a white target ball.



On the 24th of this month, one year has passed since the opening of the Tokyo Paralympics, and on the 19th, the Japan Paralympic Games, the top-level tournament in Japan, will be held in Tokyo, with the participation of leading overseas athletes. Individual competitions for men and women were held in 3 of the 4 classes.



Of these, the women's class with the heaviest disability was a round-robin event, with Keiko Tanaka, who won the silver medal in pairs at the Tokyo Paralympics, playing against Korean athletes.



Tanaka was trailed by two points by the second end, but she returned one point in the third end.



And in the final 4th end, she used her specialty "long ball" to hit her target ball in the back right of the court, and she scored 4 points with a series of accurate shots to turn the game around. We won 5 to 2.



Also, in the men's class for people with disabilities other than cerebral palsy, Shunsuke Uchida, who won the Japan Championship in January, and Wataru Komitsu, who participated in the Tokyo Paralympics, competed against each other. Compete with your results.



In the first match on the 19th, Uchida scored a powerful shot that made the most of his power in the first end to score four goals. I added 2 points with the technique of putting on and won 9 to 1.



The competition will be held until the 20th, and the winner will be decided in each class.

Keiko Tanaka "I'm glad I managed to win one"

After the match, Tanaka Keiko looked back on the come-from-behind 4th end, saying, “I am good at long balls, so I wanted to score as many goals as I could.



Regarding not using the long ball until the fourth end, he said, "I thought that my opponent would expect a long ball, so I dared to use short. , I wanted them to feel that I could do it too."



And she said that the tournament was held for the first time in three years due to the influence of the new corona, and she played in front of the audience. she said with a smile.

Shunsuke Uchida "I was able to show my good points"

After the match, UCHIDA Shunsuke said with a satisfied expression, ``I was in good shape today.



Regarding the play that scored four points in the first end, he said, "I was able to make the shot I wanted. There were times when I couldn't score with the last ball, but today I scored well and it gave me confidence." I looked back.



On top of that, regarding her future goals, she enthusiastically said, "I want to focus on winning in international competitions. I will do my best in daily practice so that I can participate in the 2024 Paris Paralympics and the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics." did.