DUBAI, 19th April 2017: Thailand players took center stage as the pool matches of the individual competition began on the third 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 Monday 17th 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 and will conclude on Wednesday 19th April.
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.
Rising star
Sultan Al Ketbi emerged as a rising star for UAE scoring the biggest win of the day when he outclassed Zuhair Al Qarni of Saudi Arabia 22-0 in a BC2 pool A match with a superlative performance. Sultan virtually booked his berth in the BC2 quarter-finals together with his compatriot Khalid Al Marashda with an impressive 10-3 win over Ahmad Al Sulaim of Saudi Arabia.
UAE Boccia coach Fawad Al Hashimi hailed the great win recorded by Sultan Al Ketbi.
“We are very happy with the great score achieved by Sultan who is one of the best players in our team. He has been practicing Boccia since 2011. We are pleased to see Saudi Arabia making their international debut in the sport,” he said.
Sultan’s win even overshadowed the sluggish performance of the world’s number one BC2 player Worawut Saengampa from Thailand who overcame Saudi Arabia’s Ahmed Al Sweidan 6-0.
However, Watcharaphon Vongsa, the world’s number three BC2 player, romped past Hong Kong’s Pak Lun Chan 16-0 in pool B. Hi Lam Yeung of Hong Kong seemed assured of topping pool C opening his campaign by outplaying Salim Al Kaabi of UAE 15-0 while South Korea’s Byeong Cheoi Choi prevailed over Hong Kong’s John Loung 4-1 in a closely contested match.
BC1
Thailand’s Pattaya Tadtong lived up to his BC1 world number two ranking racking up 50 points with just one against in three pool A matches to book his berth in the semifinals. He defeated UAE’s Alali  Mohammed 19-0, Kuwait’s Fahad Al Babtain 18-0 and Alaleeli Saleh 13-1.
Witsanu Huadpradit is expected to join Pattaya in the last four after a hard fought 6-2 win over team mate Subin Tipmanee while Hong Kong’s Mei Yee Leung was in ominous form notching a 9-2 win over UAE’s Salem Al Ketbi in pool B.
BC3
In the hotly contested BC3 category, Australia’s Spencer Cotie upset the more fancied Ekkarat Chomchoi from Thailand 6-0 and topped pool A after winning a 3-3 tie against world number five Yuen Kei Ho of Hong Kong.
However, her team mate Daniel Michel who has ambitions of becoming the world number one BC3 player, suffered a reversal at the hands of South Korea’s Jae Hun Lee by the narrowest of margins 5-4 in a key pool B match after having eased past UAE’s Ayesha Al Shamsi 10-0 in his first match.
Michel was confident of bouncing back and fighting for a podium position.
“I am very confident of winning a medal. It was great to play against best players of the world in Rio Paralympics. It has really helped me develop as a player. It’s going to help me spring forward during the next four years and am hopeful becoming number before the end of this year,” said 13th-ranked Michel.
Hong Kong’s Lin Yan Tsang topped pool B with win over Jae Hun Lee (3-2) and Ayesha Al Shamsi (9-2).
Singapore’s Sze Ning Toh and Thailand’s Tanimpat Visaratanunta are expected to head pool C and D respectively. Kuwait’s Athari Al Muthairi was beaten by the identical margin of 15-0 by Toh and South Korea’s Jong Ho Kwon in pool C. Tanimpat racked up easy wins over UAE’s Huda Al Kaabi (15-0) and Saudi Arabia’s Muggbel Al Muggbel (13-0) while Chinese Taipei’s Min-Che Chen notched wins over Muggbel (11-0) and Huda (12-1) in pool D.
BC4
Australia’s Sarah Mutton overcame nerves to stamp her class with a unique throwing action in the BC4 category which is headed by Rio Paralympic gold medallist and world number one Yuk Wing Leung of Hong Kong and world number four from Thailand Pornchok Larpyen.
The 21-year-old from South Australia displayed great tactical skills and finesse to defeat UAE’s Ahmed Al Jaziri 19-0 in pool C where Thailand’s Rithikrai Somsanur upset world number nine Wai Yan Vivian Lau of Hong Kong 4-3.
Yuk Wing Leung eased past Kuwait’s Amani Ismael (11-0) in pool A while Larpyen gave a clinical performance against Kuwait’s Tahani Ismail (18-0) in pool B. Australia’s Jean-Paul La Fontaine outplayed India’s Pawan Sharma (14-0) while Yeun Cheung of Hong Kong beat Seokbeop Won of South Korea 4-1 in pool D.
However, Sarah caught the eye with her two-fisted throws and outplaying Al Jaziri with long balls.
“I was a little nervous at the beginning. My hands were shaking all the time. But I thought this is my game. I have to give everything,” said Sarah who blanked her rival twice with long balls.
“I guess I knew he couldn’t do long. But I just wanted to see myself how long I could go because I’ve been going to the gym to build up my strength. It obviously proved that I could do that distance and maintain it,” said Sarah playing in only her second international competition after taking part in Montreal last year.
“My goal is Tokyo 2020,” declared 92nd-ranked Sarah with her confidence sky-high after her win in Dubai.
Hospitality
Sarah and her coach Sue Olsen were full of praise for the hospitality and arrangements during the Fazza Bisfed Regional Open Championship – Dubai 2017.
“It’s been lovely. People have been very friendly. The competition from our perspective has gone very smoothly. Technical things happen but volunteers and Dubai club officials have always been there to support us,” said Olsen.
“It’s good. Everyone is helpful. This is my first international without my parents,” added Sarah.
Medal rounds
The elimination rounds in the four categories is scheduled to begin at 10.00 a.m. on Wednesday 19th April beginning with the quarter-final rounds in the BC2, BC3 and BC4 categories. The semifinals will commence at 2.00 p.m. after the lunch break. The finals will be worked from 4.00 p.m. beginning with gold and bronze medal matches for BC1 and BC3 categories while the finals of the BC2 and BC4 events will take place from 5.10 p.m.