Being part of a sport that is introduced for the first time into the Asian Para Games has its perks because participants, especially winners, make their mark in history as pioneers in the region.
Wheelchair rugby made its debut on Sunday (19 October) at the Incheon 2014 Asian Para Games with the open mixed teams event attracting entries from four countries – Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea.
After four days of competition at the Seonhak Gymnasium, Japan emerged champions defeating South Korea 60-40 in a thrilling final on Wednesday. The bronze medal was won by Malaysia who proved far stronger than Indonesia, shown by the score of 50-29.
China dominated the last day of competition for the wheelchair fencing team finals taking three gold and one silver. In the men’s foil team China scored 45 to Hong Kong China’s 34 for the win. Bronze went to Iraq.
China however, conceded to Hong Kong China in the women’s foil team, 45-35, with South Korea taking bronze.
It was victory again for China against Hong Kong China in the women’s epee team with a score of 45-39. In the men’s epee team, South Korea only managed 16 points against China’s 45, settling for silver.
Sunny skies provided the perfect setting for the last two events of the sailing competition at the Wangsan Sailing Marina.
Malaysian’s Al Mustakim Matrin and Azmi Ani made it a 1-2 finish leaving Japan’s Yasuhiko TANIMOTO trailing behind for the bronze in the single-person keelboat (2.4mR).
In the two-person keelboat (dinghy 303), Tan Wei Qiang and Yap Qian Yin (SIN) secured top marks with Shinya Yamamoto (JPN) and Mari Kitagawa (JPN) following close for silver, and Malaysia’s Nurul Amilin Balawi and Mustafah Junell settled for third place.
The Incheon 2014 Asian Para Games is held from 18 to 24 October 2014.
