DUBAI, 16th April 2017: Hong Kong were unbeaten on the opening 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, which began with the Teams and Doubles events at the Dubai Club for the Disabled on Saturday 15th 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, and will continue until Wednesday 19th April 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 13 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.
Four wins
Hong Kong emerged as the new Asian powerhouse in the sport of Boccia recording four impressive wins in the Pairs competition, including two against favourites Thailand, in addition to sweeping to victory in the team match against UAE.
Hosts UAE maintained their regional superiority with their leading duo of Raisa Al Falasi and Ahmed Al Jaziri defeating Kuwait’s Amani Ismael and Tahani Ismail comfortably 6-0 in the Pairs BC4 pool match.
Ahmed Al Jaziri was overwhelmed after UAE's win over Kuwait dedicated it to people who suffer from disabilities in the country.
 
"Sports changed my life fully. I did not believe that I could even do any form of exercise in sports and go on to win titles. Thanks to the sport of Boccia and encouragement and facilities available at Dubai Club for the Disabled, I was able to win titles at the Fazza Boccia tournament previously. This win has boosted my confidence to train harder and qualify for major tournaments in future," said Ahmed Al Jaziri who suffers from muscular dystrophy, an impairment that has no cerebral origin.
BC3 Pairs
In the Pairs BC3 pool matches played in the afternoon, Australia opened their campaign with an emphatic 9-1 win over South Korea while Hong Kong won their duel against Thailand 5-2.
Australia’s Paralympian Daniel Michel combined with Spencer Cotie to blow away the Korean pair of Jong Ho Kwon, the world’s top ranked BC3 player, and Jae Hun Lee.
Hong Kong’s Yuen Kei Ho, the world’s third-ranked BC3 player, paired with Ling Yan Tsang to win a tactical battle against the Thai duo of Ekkarat Chaemchoi and Tanimpat Visaratanunta.
UAE’s rookie pairing of Ayesha Al Shamsi and Huda Al Kaabi were outplayed by the Hong Kong duo 13-0 while the Thai pair bounced back to beat South Korea 6-2 in the second session.
“This is a new experience for many of our players. We have entered as many as 14 players so they can gain international exposure. Aysha Al Shamsi trained for just two weeks but has shown lot of potential. They can only get better after competing against the best Boccia players in the world from Thailand, Hong Kong and Korea,” said UAE’s coach Fawaz Al Hashimi.
BC4 Pairs
In the Pairs BC4 pool matches, Thailand defeated Australia 7-3 while Hong Kong outplayed UAE 10-0 in the opening session.
Thailand’s Pornchok Larpyen, the world’s no.4 ranked BC4 player, and Nuanchan Phonsila, were on target in the first and last ends of the match to defeat the Australian duo of Jean-Paul La Fontaine and Sarah Mutton.
UAE duo Raisa Al Falasi and Ahmed Al Jaziri showed great spirit to bounce back after losing to the Hong Kong pair of Yuen Cheung and Wai Yan Vivian Lau, ranked among the top 10 BC4 players in the world, to defeat the Kuwaiti pair scoring all six points in the first end.
The Hong Kong BC4 doubles pair capped off a superb day for them by winning a key battle against Thailand in the second session.
Team BC1/BC2
Earlier in the afternoon, Hong Kong’s Mei Yee Leung, Pak Lun Chan and John Loung outplayed the UAE team of Mohammed Alali, Omar Al Falasi and Saleh Al Aleeli to win 12-1.
The Saudi Arabia team of Zuhair Al Qarni, Ahmad Al Sulaim and Ahmed Al Suweidan suffered the biggest defeat at the hands of Thailand led by world no.2 ranked BC2 player Pattaya Tadtong, Witsanu Huadpradit and Subin Tipmanee.
Individual events
After the conclusion of the Pairs and Team events, the focus shifts to the individual competition for the next three days. The competition will be held in four categories – BC1, BC2, BC3 and BC4 – with matches being held in the morning and afternoon. The morning session is scheduled to be held from 9.00a.m. to 12.20p.m. and the afternoon session from 2.20p.m to 6.30p.m. A total of 39 pool matches are scheduled to be worked off on Monday 17thApril with no less than 16 matches lined up in the BC3 category.
Hospitality
UAE’s famed hospitality and their support for disabled sports was hailed by the participants even with the Dubai Club for the Disabled conducting the Fazza Bisfed Regional Open Championship – Dubai 2017 in a specially built enclosure which received mixed reviews.
“The hospitality and organization is great. The key thing is the floor needs to be perfect. Floor dictates game. It’s same for all teams. Where ever we go around the world, every floor is different. So what is a perfect floor I don’t know. But it is always a new challenge to come to a new surface. The best players adapt,” said Australia’s head Boccia coach since 2012 Peter King who has brought a bigger contingent than they did for the Fazza Boccia World Open in Dubai last year.
“Australia came with two players last year. This time we have come with four players. I think Dan (Daniel Michel) can win a medal here after missing out last year in Dubai. This is the first of four tournaments we are going to this year leading up to next year’s World Championships,” he added.
Michel was elated after they beat South Korea and had no qualms about playing on a new surface.
“It was a tough match. They are very good. It was good to come out on top,” said the 22-year-old Aussie star.
“It (floor) was very different. Definitely required adjusting. Just requires practising on it and understanding how it moves. Whoever does that best comes out on top,” he said.