While Tite, Neymar and company are in Qatar, another Brazilian team will have the World Cup in front of them in the coming days (and play at home). Starting next Monday (5), the Barra da Tijuca Olympic Park, in the western region of Rio de Janeiro, will host the Bocce Paralympic World Championships, a method practiced by athletes with severe physical and motor disabilities. The event will be broadcast by The National Association of Sports with Disabilities (ANDY) channel on YouTubeHe lives.
The competition will bring together more than 170 players from 40 countries, in addition to Brazil. This is the main bowling event of the Paris (France) Paralympic Games, as well as being The first world championship with the division of athletes by gender in individual disputesa change that came into effect after the Tokyo Paralympics (Japan).
Until 2021, segregation was only done by occupational categories, which are four categories. Classes BC1 and BC2 combine athletes who play with their hands or feet. The difference is that in BC1, the helper is allowed to deliver the balls. In BC3, players have ramp support to direct pitches, and the ability to use tools to propel the ball. In BC4, finally, the affected competitors are located in the spinal cord.
“We expect to win five medals, two of which are in the final. [ouro ou prata]🇧🇷 It’s the only competition in that period [entre as Paralimpíadas de Tóquio e Paris] Where will be all the best in the world, so [o Mundial] “He will be a beacon, a guide for what will happen in 2024,” said Andy’s technical director, Leonardo Baedek, through the entity’s press office.
Brazil will have 11 players at the World Cup, competing in the four categories, and in three of them they will be present in both suits. The exception is BC2, where the country will not be represented among women. BC3, in turn, is the category with the largest number of players: Ivany Calado and Evelyn Oliveira in the females, and Antonio Lemi and Mateus Carvalho in the males.
The Brazilian national team wants to return to the top of the podium in an event that it has not occupied since the version that was held in Lisbon (Portugal) in 2010. Dirceu Pinto (died two years ago and was honored by a World Cup mascot, named Dibu) He was a BC4 singles champion and was part of the winning team in the doubles feud alongside Adriano Andrade Silva and Eliseu dos Santos. These were the only times Brazil have won gold medals in the competition.
By the way, Eliso is a veteran of the Brazilian team, who considers Masel Santos the most experienced, and is on his way to his seventh appearance. BC2 Paralympic Champion at the London (UK) 2012 Games, the athlete was twice on the podium of the World Cup in Beijing (China), eight years ago. On this occasion, he took bronze in individual and silver in team dispute in which classes BC1 and BC2 were mixed, with José Carlos Chagas, Daniela Falotico and Luiz Carlos.
Continuous renewal
The 37-year-old Maciel, who was the first time the World Cup was held in Rio, in 2006, reached this year’s edition as the leader in the BC2 world ranking among men and will have the young Brazilian as one of his opponents in the fight for the undisputed title. precedent. At the age of 21, ten of them do bocce. Iori Tawan is one of the newcomers to the delegation and began representing Brazil in international competitions last year.
“My expectations are as high as they can be. I hope to do well in the World Cup, represent Brazil very well and take home the medal,” said the youngster from Rio Grande do Norte. Brazil agency🇧🇷
Iori even has Maciel as a reference and trains with him for a week in Mogi das Cruzes (SP), where the Paralympic champion lives. Together, they were the BC1 and BC2 team champions in the America’s Cup soccer held at the Paralympic Training Center in São Paulo in December 2021. In the individual dispute Maciel won the gold medal and Iwry took the bronze.
“I take the competitions I’ve been in with him [Maciel] as experience baggage. I will put together everything I have learned and do my best to win gold at these worlds,” predicted the Barnamariam-born athlete (RN) who is currently 12th in the world rankings for this category.
The one who was alongside Maciel and Iori in winning the Copa America via team was Andreza Vitória, another promise for Bocchi. The woman from Pernambuco, at the age of two, was diagnosed with Leigh syndrome, an inherited neurodegenerative disease that affects the nervous system. At the age of 21, she has defended for Brazil since 2018 and represented the country at the Tokyo Games.
The World Cup in Rio will be the first in the career of the young woman, who reaches the tournament as the leader of the BC1 women’s classification. In addition to her, only Maciel, out of 11 Brazilians, is ranked first in a category. Of the other nine, four are in the top ten: José Carlos Chagas (second in BC1), Mateos Carvalho (fifth in BC3), Evelyn Oliveira and Yvani Calado (third and sixth, respectively, in BC4).
🇧🇷[A liderança] It’s a seven-year work package that’s paying off. I am very proud of my results together with my coach, to reach this position in the ranking. I hope to have a good competition and I know I’m ready to do my best,” explains Andreza, who competed until 2017 in the BC2 class, being reclassified to BC1 the following year, and started getting direct help from coach Poliana Cruz.
In addition to being BC1 and BC2 team competition partners, Iori and Andreza are at the helm of a new generation of the sport, which has been fostering since the school’s Paralympics. Including the duo, there are four Brazilian World Cup athletes who have been to the main tournament for school-age youth with disabilities. The other two are Letícia Karoline (BC1) and Mateus Carvalho (the latter being the more experienced of them all).
“Any high-yield project, no matter how successful, needs to focus on renovation. We’re working on the Los Angeles games [Estados Unidos, em 2028] And later, Brisbane [Austrália, em 2032]🇧🇷 Not because there are gold medals [na equipe] Who will wait for the bad result to renew. We highly value the School Paralympics, Camp Sites [que reúnem os destaques das Paralimpíadas Escolares]Youth Choice is a project we started in 2022 [Campeonatos] Brazilians, Parapan American Games and World Youth Cup. If we want to stay on top of the wave, we have to think about a maturation process for these athletes,” concluded Bidek, from Andy.
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