Heraklion to the rhythms of Boccia

Heraklion to the rhythms of Boccia in October

The heart of the World Boccia will beat on the island of Crete, in the city of Heraklion, from October 20 th to 28 th , 2023.

In this very large and important event organized by the Hellenic Paralympic Committee with the support of the Region of Crete and the Municipality of Heraklion, disabled athletes from all over the world will participate to qualify for the PARIS 2024 Paralympic Games.

Hellenic Paralympic Committee’s as well as the Organizing Committee’s goal is to organize a successful event so all the athletes have the best possible results and also on the sideline of the games to know the Greek history and hospitality.

Boccia in Greece

Boccia is a widespread Paralympic Sport. It has been developing rapidly in Greece with the Greek athletes taking the lead in the international sports scene.

Paralympic Games Medals

Beijing 2008

Polychronidis Grigoris 2nd place Individual BC3

London 2012

Polychronidis Grigoris – Polychorinidis Daniil (ramp operator), Pananos Nikolaos – Keramydas Andreas (ramp operator), Kordali Maria Eleni – Keramydas Andreas (ramp operator) 1st place BC3 Pairs

 

Rio de Janeiro

Polychronidis Grigoris – Patroni Aikaterini (ramp operator) 2nd place Individual BC3

Polychronidis Grigoris – Polychorinidis Daniil (ramp operator), Pananos Nikolaos – Keramydas Andreas (ramp operator), Ntena Anna- Ntenta Christina (ramp operator), 3rd place BC3 Pairs

Tokyo 2020

Polychronidis Grigoris – Patroni Aikaterini (ramp operator) 2nd place Individual BC3

Polychronidis Grigoris – Polychorinidis Daniil (ramp operator), Ntena Anna- Ntenta Christina (ramp operator), Pyrgioti Anastasia – Pyrgiotis Ioannis (ramp operator) 3rd place BC3 Pairs

About Boccia

The word ‘Boccia’ is derived from the Italian word meaning to bowl, and this family of sports is probably the earliest game ever played by mankind – carvings of egyptian figures throwing stones have been recorded as early as 5200 BC.

Boccia is a competitive sport, played between two athletes, pairs or teams of three people each.

Nowadays, Boccia is a sport for people with cerebral palsy or other mobility disabilities who use wheelchairs, both recreationally and competitively. The sport requires concentration, coordination, muscle control, precision, teamwork, cooperation and strategy.

The matches are held in a closed area, in which special lines are drawn that delimit the playing area. The aim of the players is to propel their leather red or blue balls as close as possible to a white target ball, called a “jack”.

The order of the players is determined by lot. The player or team that wins the toss has the right to choose whether to play with the red or blue balls.

The first round starts with the player who will play with the red balls. The player drops first the white and then a red ball. The advancement of the ball can be done by hand, foot or with the help of a device, when the players have a very large mobility restriction in the upper and lower limbs. The opponents then throw their balls, trying to reach the target ball.

At the end of each round, the closest distances to the target are measured by the referee and the score is added up to determine the winner.

There are 8 types of individual events with a male and female event for each sport category (BC1, BC2, BC3, BC4). Pairs and team events are mixed. In pairs there are two events (BC3 and BC4 pairs). In Team events there is only one type of event for BC1/BC2 sport categories together. The game consists of four rounds, in singles and pairs, and six rounds in the Team category. It is played on a court – usually with a hard floor – with lines.

Boccia includes athletes with neurological impairment (myopathy, celebral pulsy, multiple sclerosis etc) and locomotor disfunction (spinal cord injury, muscular dystrophy etc).

For more information you can visit Hellenic Paralympic Committee’s website https://www.paralympic.gr and World Boccia website https://www.worldboccia.com

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