The 4th Asian Para Games in Hangzhou has a total of 22 official events, including one young event - lawn bocce. It became an official competition for the first time at the 2nd Asian Para Games in Incheon in 2014. At this Asian Para Games, China participated in the team for the first time. The young project, the new Chinese team, what are the characteristics of this project, how is the training and preparation of the Chinese team, let's go to Hangzhou to have a look.
At the competition venue of Wenhui School in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, 12 athletes from the Chinese lawn bocce team are undergoing pre-competition training.
According to the rules, during the game, both players take turns throwing boules at the white target ball, and the team closest to the target ball finally scores. At the training site, the reporter saw that the ball used in the game of grass bocce ball was not a round sphere, but a flat round ball with asymmetrical weight on both sides and an offset center of gravity. In this way, after throwing, the ball will arc and bypass obstacles to reach its destination, similar to the combined sport of curling and bowling.
Liu Guoqiang, head coach of the lawn bocce event of the Chinese delegation at the Asian Para Games: This ball cannot walk in a straight line, it must have a curvature, so we must consider the arc and strength when throwing the ball. The ball will roll and start to turn slowly as it progresses, and finally stops at this center line. The arc of different distances and the arc of different forces must be mastered through continuous training.
According to the coach, athletes can choose balls of different sizes and arcs according to their hand shape and preferences. How to get the ball to the target location accurately, arc and force are difficult to master.
The players participating in the lawn bocce competition are mainly physically and visually handicapped athletes. Visually disabled athletes need to perceive the position of the ball through the description of the guide, and then constantly adjust, which is unimaginably difficult.
Feng Shugui, athlete of the lawn bocce event of the Chinese delegation at the Asian Para Games: When I first started, this ball rolled out, and the direction was not right. Through our day after day, slowly running in with him, I cooperated with the guide like a brother. Sometimes a ball is thrown and my coach says that Feng Shugui is a good ball, and I feel infinite happiness at that time.
Xu Yonggang, athlete of the lawn bocce event of the Chinese delegation at the Asian Para Games: Like when we were training, we have been sitting in a wheelchair, our waist is very tired, and we slowly adapt to overcome it. One is strength and the other is curvature, and these two are the most important things for us as a ball. You can only keep practicing and feeling.
Lawn bocce, which originated in England, has a history of hundreds of years, but has only been developed in China for more than 10 years. The 12-member Chinese lawn bocce team was selected from more than 2,000 people to enter the training, and after more than three years of training, the team members were finally selected, and the members came from all walks of life. In order to throw the perfect arc at this Asian Para Games, 12 athletes have been training for nearly four months and will compete for gold medals in 12 of the 18 disciplines in the men's and women's singles and mixed doubles competitions.
Weng Feibiao, athlete of the lawn bocce event of the Chinese delegation at the Asian Para Games: I participated in the men's singles and mixed doubles. Your goal, to be able to win glory for the country, and then win the gold medal.
Liu Guoqiang, head coach of the lawn bocce event of the Chinese delegation at the Asian Para Games: After nearly three years of training, to be honest, the progress of athletes is great, and I think I will definitely achieve good results.
(CCTV reporter Zhou Peipei, Zhejiang TV)