Chinese boccia player Wang happy with fourth place at Paralympics
9/9/2008 17:58
Wang Yi of China lost to Gabriel Shelly of Ireland 6-2 in the boccia
bronze medal match of the Mixed Individual BC1, but he said he was happy with
clinching a fourth place at Paralympics.
Shelly, gold medalist in Sydney,
looked more determined and experienced in the match as he had a solid start
against Wang 4-0 in the first end. After losing two more points in the next two
ends, the world No. 37 Wang fought back to throw two points in the last end, but
it was too late to turn the beam.
It is the best result ever achieved by a
Chinese boccia athlete in the BC1 category at Paralympics.
"I did my best
today, so I don't regret anything at all. The Ireland team is really strong, and
I lack their experiences." Wang said.
"I am happy with the result, and I hope
I can improve my skills and strength in the future," he added.
As a Chinese
chess master in Beijing, Wang turned his interest to boccia four years ago and
he found the wisdom of Chinese chess can give him some help in
boccia.
"Boccia is like Chinese chess. You need to think through the game,
and you need to take the next throw into consideration. Every throw can be
predicted beforehand," Wang said.
"While I'm nervous, I always think about
Chinese chess to calm myself down. It helps my ability to fight. Chinese chess
helps me control the rhythm of my play."
Chinese boccia team was founded in
2006 and Wang's coach Tian Jia'nan told Xinhua that they need more competition
experience to improve their abilities in this sport.
Xinhua
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