The final of the international para sports ball game, goalball, was held on the 16th, and the Japanese women's national team, ranked second in the world and aiming for a gold medal for the first time in three tournaments at the Paris Paralympic Games, lost to Israel, ranked sixth in the world, and finished as runners-up. did.
Goalball is a sport in which three visually impaired players compete for points by taking turns rolling a ball using the sound of a ball with a bell inside.The competition will be held for two days until the 16th in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The "Japan Para Games" was held.
Japan, ranked second in the world, won the gold medal at the 2012 London Games and the bronze medal at the Tokyo Games three years ago, and will play against 6th place Israel, 14th place South Korea, and 20th place France in a round robin match on the 15th. won all three races in qualifying and passed in first place.
On the 16th, Japan, who advanced to the finals, faced Israel. In the first half, Japan took a two-goal lead thanks to Leehi Ben-David's speedy and powerful ball, but their ace, Norika Hagiwara, was scored by a foul by the opponent. They took a penalty throw and got one point back, making it 1-3.
In the second half, Japan launched a variety of attacks, including quick attacks that immediately threw back the ball after receiving the opponent's ball, but they were blocked by Israel's solid defense and were unable to score, losing 1-3 and finishing as runners-up. was.
Captain Rieko Takahashi said, ``I felt like we wouldn't be able to win the gold medal in Paris under the current circumstances. However, we found issues in both our offense and defense during this tournament, so we'll do our best to sort things out over the past six months and shine in Paris. I want to go," he said.
Ace Norika Hagiwara “Suffering is full”
Norika Hagiwara, the ace of Japan's women's goalball national team, said of the fact that she was able to stop two penalty throws resulting from foul play by her opponent in the final, saying, ``I approached the game with a relaxed mindset, thinking, ``If I can put it on the course properly, I can score.'' However, there were some parts where I was stopped due to poor control or being analyzed by my opponent, so I want to practice the technique to overcome that no matter how much analysis is done until the Paris Games.''
Although they advanced to the finals by winning all four matches, including defeating Israel 4-2 in the preliminary round on the 15th, they finished as runners-up. Commenting on the fact that they finished as runners-up, they said, ``Since last year, I have only been able to win silver medals in tournaments, so it was a tough experience for me. I'm already full of pain, so in Paris I want to turn my tears of frustration into tears of joy and just aim for a gold medal.''