DUBAI, 20th April 2017: Raisa Al Falasi led UAE’s charge into the knockout rounds of the individual competition on the penultimate day of the Fazza Bisfed (Boccia International Sports Federation) Regional Open Championship – Dubai 2017 held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council at the Dubai Club for the Disabled on Tuesday 18th April.
It is being organized and supervised by the Dubai Club for the Disabled with the support of their strategic partners Dubai Sports Council, Bisfed, the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW) and the UAE Paralympic Committee, with the participation of 56 elite Boccia players from 10 countries.
The participating countries are Australia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Singapore, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and hosts UAE who are fielding 14 players. The Fazza Bisfed Regional Open Championship – Dubai 2017 is a qualifier to achieve ranking points for the forthcoming World Championships and Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
Regional stars
Regional players from UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia took the spotlight on the final day of pool matches to underline their ascendancy in the Paralympic sport of Boccia.
Kuwait’s Athari Almutairi caused a huge upset when she beat Thailand’s Somboon Chaipanich 5-3 in the final BC3 pool match but missed out advancing to the quarter-finals.
UAE secured four spots in the final round of the Fazza Bisfed Regional Open Championship – Dubai 2017, including two in the BC2 category through Khalid Almarashda and Sultan Al Ketbi. Alaleeli Saleh advanced from BC1 while UAE captain Raisa Al Falasi kept alive her hopes in BC4.
Saudi Arabia, newcomers to the sport of Boccia, had the satisfaction of seeing Ahmed Al Sweidan qualifying to the last eight from pool A in the BC2 category after defeating UAE’s Sultan Al Ketbi 4-1 and getting a walk over from team mate Zuhair Al Qarni. Saudi also came out trumps in another regional duel against UAE, when Ali Muggbel notched his maiden international win 6-1 against Huda Al Kaabi in the final BC3 pool D tie.
BC1
UAE’s Alaleeli Saleh, ranked 44th in the world in BC1, was ranked second in pool A recording wins over compatriot Alali Mohammed 9-1 and Ahmed Doman of Saudi Arabia 19-0. He suffered only one defeat to BC1 world number two and favourite from Thailand Pattaya Tadtong who remained unbeaten with a 9-1 win over Kuwait’s Fahad Albabtain.
Rio Paralympics gold medallist in the BC1-2 team event for Thailand Subin Tipmanee upset BC1 world number 8 Mei Yee Leung of Korea in a close contest 3-2 to secure her place in the last eight from pool B along with compatriot Witsanu Huadpradit who was unbeaten notching his third win over UAE’s Salem Al Ketbi 12-2 blanking his rival in the final end.
BC2
Thailand’s BC2 individual gold and silver medallists respectively in Rio, Watcharaphon Vongsa, the world’s number three BC2 player, and Worawut Saengampa, the top ranked world BC2 player, were unbeaten in their pool matches.
UAE’s Khalid Almarashda beat Pak Lun Chan of Hong Kong for his second win and qualify to the quarter-finals as the second ranked player from pool B. His compatriot Sultan Al Ketbi went through as the third player from pool A despite losing to Saudi Arabia’s Ahmed Al Sweidan with his heroics the previous day against Zuhair Al Qarni giving him a good average score.
Hiu Lam Yeung (South Korea), John Loung (Hong Kong) and Byeong Cheoil Choi (South Korea) were the other qualifiers.
BC3
In the hotly contested BC3 category, Thailand’s Tanimpat Visaratanunta was the only unbeaten player after winning a closely contested tie 5-4 against Chinese Taipei’s Min-Chei Chen in pool D.
Australia’s Paralympian Daniel Michel beat Ling Yan Tang of Hong Kong 8-1 to secure top spot in pool B while compatriot Spencer Cotie headed pool A having upset the more fancied Ekkarat Chomchoi from Thailand and world number five Yuen Kei Ho of Hong Kong.
“I’m really happy to have beaten two top players in the world. This is my second time in Dubai. My goal is to win a medal in Dubai, eventually go to the World Boccia Championships and heading to Tokyo 2020 Paralympics,” said Cottie who celebrated his 18th birthday in Dubai on Tuesday.
“We really enjoyed coming to Dubai. Everyone who is here have been really lovely athletes. Everyone is friendly and showing good sportsmanship,” said Cottie’s assistant for the last eight months.
Hong Kong’s Lin Yan Tsang topped pool B with win over Jae Hun Lee (3-2) and Ayesha Al Shamsi (9-2).
South Korea’s Jong Ho Kwon defeated Singapore’s Sze Ning Toh 13-0 to head pool C.
BC4
Rio Paralympics BC4 pairs bronze medallist Nuanchan Phonsila from Thailand stunned BC4 world number one and Rio gold medallist Yuk Wing Leung of Hong Kong 3-2 to top pool A.
World number four and Rio Paralympics BC4 bronze medallist from Thailand Pornchok Larpyen was the only unbeaten player in this category in which UAE’s Raisa Al Falasi scored an impressive 18-0 win over Kuwait’s Tahani Ismail, blanking her rival twice, to secure the second spot from pool B.
Thailand’s Rithikrai Somsanur and South Korea’s Seokbeop Won headed the other two pools with Hong Kong’s Wai Yan Vivian Lau and Yeun Cheung making the last eight.
Thailand’s long-standing Boccia coach Sumrit Kotsila attributed their reason for success to their professional approach.
“The players train six hours a day for six days a week. We have some new players like Sompoon Chaipanich (BC3) and emerging star Subin Tipmanee (BC1) who was a member of the Rio Paralympics gold medal winning team. But we didn’t risk her in the individual event because she is still new,” said Kotsila, who sees the rise of players from Hong Kong, South Korea and China.
Hospitality
The participants in the including players, officials and spectators enjoyed the traditional Arabic hospitality corner during the Fazza Bisfed Regional Open Championship – Dubai 2017. Traditional Arabic delicacies were a favourites, while handicrafts and paintings were also on display showcasing the culture of UAE and Dubai in particular.