Laurens Devos (BEL) semifinal bound in Pajulahti (Photo: ITTF/Michael Loveder)
PAJULAHTI, Finland — The Finland Para Open table tennis got under way on Friday with the men’s singles events swiftly reaching the knockout rounds ahead of some finals tomorrow.
There were two thrillers in the quarterfinals of the men’s singles class 2. The number one seed Guilherme Marcio Da Costa (BRA) was eliminated in the quarters by Spanish number four seed Daniel Rodriguez, who won the last two gams 11-9, 11-7 to advance. He will meet Jiri Suchanek (CZE) in the semifinal after another 3-2 win in even more dramatic fashion. Suchanek came from two games down winning the last three 11-9, 11-6, 11-9.
The other semifinal will be between Boris Stoiljkovic (SRB) and Iker Sastre (ESP) who won their matches 3-1 and 3-0 respectively.
Class 3 also saw two 3-2 matches. Alexander Ohgren (SWE) advanced, after winning the first he gave up the next two games. That forced him to come back and he did, winning the last two 11-9, 11-8. He will play Florian Merrien (FRA) who has only dropped one game all tournament.
Petr Svatos (CZE) overcame Colin Judge (IRE) 3-2. His win was different, winning the first two games before losing two straight he won the decider 11-7. He’ll face Yuichiro Kitagawa (JPN) who won his quarter 3-1.
Similarly, class 7 has two semifinalists whose quarterfinals went the distance. Hiromoto Kita (JPN) needed extra points to win his match, winning the third 12-10 to complete a comeback. Kita’s opponent will be Brazilian Paulo Sergio Salmin Filho who won 3-1.
The other semifinal is also a Brazilian against a Japanese player and they followed a similar route. Kosuke Hemmi (JPN) also needed extra points to win his quarter final. After losing the second and third games by large margins he won the fourth 12-10 and the fifth 14-12. He will meet Paulo Henrique Fonseca in the semifinal.
The class 8 quarters were much more simple. Vit Spalek (CZE) was the only one who dropped a game, the three others swept their way to the semis.
The women’s singles also reached the semifinals, but with smaller fields had no quarter finals. Saturday will see the singles championships awarded while the doubles get started. Matches can be followed live through the ITTF event page.
WALSALL, England, United Kingdom — The IBSA World Games are fast approaching in Birmingham, a crucial step on the road to Paris 2024. One man competing and looking to build is Christopher Hunt Skelley, Paralympic Champion and newly European Championship silver medalist. The years after Tokyo 2020 have been full of change for Hunt Skelley and that’s been a good thing for his preparation.
Japan was somewhere the Judoka returned to as he looked to get ready for Birmingham and Paris and his preparation went well.
“The preparation is going really well for Birmingham. We had a very busy few months in Japan between May and June. We were out there for about 6 weeks training and working out,” said Hunt Skelley. “And then we’ve just been back in Walsall, making sure we get the best preparation before the World Games next week and the preparation for Paris – we’re not getting too far of ourselves head of ourselves.”
Returning to his native England and Walsall doesn’t mean the training drops off, far from it. Hunt Skelley is working hard to get ready for both competitions, he’s a very busy man.
“My typical day looks very busy. We have randori which means sparring every morning at 10:30am and then in the afternoons we have our strength or technical work. And in the evenings, if we want to do any extra stuff like wrestling, we go to clubs around Walsall that have us and we train really hard. It is between 2 to 3 sessions a day, which is very tough on the body so you also have to do extra recovery protocols, making sure your body is in the best possible shape it can be.”
He may have spent a lot of time in Japan, but that doesn’t mean having two events close by isn’t helpful. “It’s just a short hop to Paris on the Eurostar” he explains. Being close to home, makes life easier. Travel is difficult for anyone, and keeping things close minimize the complications. Jetlag has been shown to have a significant impact on performance due to an increased burden on the body, reports from the US National Institutes of Health revealed.
Change has been a big word in recent years for Hunt Skelley. Two of these are very positive, his marriage to former Paralympian Louise Hunt Skelley “ I’m very lucky to have someone in my life like that,” he beams; and becoming an MBE.
Any marriage is a partnership and Hunt Skelley is boosted by his wife.
“It is really helpful having a spouse who’s a Paralympian because she also understands the dedication and the commitment I have to put into the sport. She was a very successful in her right and to have her and her knowledge and to have her sometimes kind of question me and push me to be the best version of myself is really helpful.”
An MBE is one of the highest honors that someone can earn and for Hunt Skelley it’s a vindication of all that he went through.
“To have an MBE my name is surreal. I never thought I’d have any letters after my name, to be where I am, if you said to me 12 years ago where I would be, I would just have bitten your hand off because I was in a really dark place about 12 years ago and I didn’t see a way out of it. So then to know that I’ve had an MBE and you know to know that I’ve been recognised for that is really special and it’s a bit of a dream come true for me really.”
But not all change is positive and one big thing that has come up for the British Judoka is a new medical diagnosis, coeliac disease. Those with coeliac disease have issues processing gluten but true to Hunt Skelley’s style, he puts a positive spin on it.
“I was recently diagnosed with coeliac disease. I’ve had it for quite a long time, but not realised I’ve had it. To be fair, it hasn’t really changed much in my life. Suddenly I can’t have Greggs or McDonald’s anymore but that actually makes me eat a little bit healthier. I have to think about what I put into my body, so I can’t now just go to restaurants and eat off the menu. I have to kind of explain that I’m gluten free, but to be fair, since finding out that I did have coeliac disease, I have felt so much better in myself and my health is a lot better. “
A final change has been a new classification, the 100kg classification has been removed and that has pushed Hunt Skelley down to a new +90kg classification. That means that despite being the Paralympic Champion he’s not the top dog.
“The pressure is not on me anymore. My category which was 100 kilos, has been got rid of so now I’m a new category of plus 90, so I become the hunter again. I now chase down the top lads in this category, making sure I train really hard and push them which pushes me so for me, I’m just like the hunter again and I really like that,” said Hunt Skelley. “There’s no one who’s an easy fight there. You have to really push yourself to be the best and you really have to turn over every stone to become the best version of yourself, so everyone’s threatening this new category and you just have to be in the best shape and best mindset possible.”
As expected there’s one goal for Hunt Skelley in Paris, win his second Paralympic gold medal.
“My goals for Birmingham and Paris are, you know, to try and win it. I’m there to go and win. I’m a fighter. I’m an athlete. I’m a competitor, so you know anyone who says “I’m not going there to win” is a liar, so I’ll be honest, I’m there to go and win it and try and put my best performance on the day.”
The +90kg classification is looming as a big battle in Paris and it will be fascinating to see how it plays out. Hunt Skelley, fresh off a European silver medal is bound to be a serious contender.
Sailors in action in the men’s Hansa 303 classification (Photo: Isabel van Opzeeland/World Sailing)
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands —All but one para classification is led by European Sailors as the World Sailing Championships continued on Monday, but the battle is not over yet.
A win in the sixth race of the men’s Hansa 303 for Polish sailor Pitor Chichocki extended his lead from one point to three. With two wins in the last three races he sits top with seven points ahead of Japan’s Takumi Niwa who came third taking him to 10 points. With four races to go it’s still close enough that either of the pair could win but Chichocki will need to slip up.
Pitor Chichocki leads the men’s Hamsa 303 (Isabel van Opzeeland/World Sailing)
The only classification not led by a European is the women’s Hansa 303 which is led by American Betsy Alison with six points after six races. While Alison has been dominant, finishing first or second in all of her races that count, her race that doesn’t count was a disqualification after a starting line violation.
That opens the door for second placed Olga Gornas-Grudzien (POL) whose discarded score is 4. Any more mistakes from Alison will almost certainly open the door for Gornas-Grudzien. For Alison it’s been an astounding journey to lead this field having had a cancer diagnosis in 2021 which led to her having much of her hip removed in a hemipelvectomy.
Betsy Alison leads the women’s Hansa 303 (Isabel van Opzeeland/World Sailing)
Alison has long coached para-sailors and now finds herself competing against them for the first time.
“It’s kind of a very ironic thing that I spent nearly 25 years coaching Paralympic sailors, only to find myself on the flip side, doing what I’m doing now, being an athlete. It’s kind of a crazy situation.”
Betsy Alison before the regatta
It could be a history making moment for Alison as a win for her would make her the first person to win a sailing world championship in para and non-para events.
Heiko Kroger leads the open 2.4 meter (Isabel van Opzeeland/World Sailing)
With one race to go in the open 2.4 meter only an improbable collapse would stop German Heiko Kroger from winning the event. Kroger’s domination has him seven points clear with just two second-place finishes, one he has discarded. Race 10 would need Italian Davide Di Maria to win the race and Kroger to finish ninth for the German to not win the race.
The French pair Ange Margaron and Olivier Ducruix celebrate after a race win in the RS Venture Connect classification (Isabel van Opzeeland/World Sailing)
A similar story has unfolded in the RS Venture Connect event with the French pair of Ange Margaron and Olivier Ducruix all but world champions. Much like Kroger they have nine points after two second-place finishes, they are six points clear of Canadian pair John McRoberts and Scott Lutes who need to win and need the French to finish seventh.
BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia – The Queensland Government, together with Brisbane 2032 organizers has revealed its plans to upgrade the Gabba for the 2032 Paralympic and Olympic Games.
The venue will host athletics and the ceremonies at both games but will need an extensive, and expensive, refurbishment. The venue hasn’t had an upgrade to spectator facilities since 2005 when a new grandstand replaced the social club. The last work done in the stadium was in 2020 to media and corporate facilities in anticipation of hosting the AFL Grand Final.
The stadium holds 36,000 people and all the upgrade options will lift the capacity to 50,000. The development will include better accessibility with Brisbane 2032 centering the Paralympics and improved accessibility in everything it is doing. There will be no exemption to heritage protection laws given to the organizers so they must protect the heritage listed buildings in the precinct.
The Government presented the winning option and three which it had rejected
The winning option meets all of the goals of the Brisbane 2032 organizers, it’s also expensive, coming in at $2.716 billion. It involves a complete rebuild of the stadium which will elevate the field of play, building the stadium on top of a car park. That will create a service road under the stadium to improve access. The roof will cover 75 percent of the fans, something very appreciated in the Queensland heat. There will also be a pedestrian footbridge to provide access to the nearby rail networks.
The deputy opposition leader, Jarrod Blejie, whose party was the one that committed to the Games, balked at the price tag arguing it would be cheaper to hold the events at Carrara Stadium. The Olympic and Paralympic Games Minister, Steven Miles revealed that Brisbane had support for the figure and would not be footing the bill alone.
The first rejected option was also a rebuild, but with a smaller capacity of 45,000 and a different seating structure which would be less accessible. It would still have a carpark under the stadium but would not lift the field of play leading to fewer spaces. It was pointed out there would be no space for events at street level in this model which came in at $2.234 billion.
The third option was a refurbishment where only the east and west stands would be rebuilt. The roof would be bigger than the existing roof but much smaller than the winning option. It would also not add parking or accessibility but would still have a hefty price tag, higher than the second option at $2.554.
In something that might appease Blejie the Government opted against the most expensive option. A full rebuild but which retained the existing concrete slabs, building a new bowl around them. This would leave no room for parking under and came in at an eyewatering $3.174 billion, mostly to do everything the winning option did but retain the current look of the stadium.
Miles argued that the current Gabba was “at the end of its useful life” so a new stadium was needed anyway and the government opted for the option that met all of its goals for the legacy of the Games.
BONN, Germany – The International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) announced on Monday and Tuesday two significant decisions that will boost the voice athletes have in the organization. On Monday the executive board announced the founding of the Athlete’s Council and on Tuesday announced a new position within the organization, a Director of Sport.
Monday’s announcement was a significant step for the organization. It has been a goal of IBSA for many years to create such a board and Monday saw that take a vital step with the creation of a working group to begin a formal body.
The first step will be looking to leverage the process followed by goalball, which formed a committee and is also under the auspices of IBSA. As a result, the initial members of this working group will be Sally Wood-Lamont the general secretary, and Pedro Figueiredo the communications officer, who were both involved in that process for goalball along with IBSA board member Mads Baulund.
One key focus for IBSA in this process is clear and transparent elections to the Athlete’s Council. This will be an interesting objective as most Athlete’s Councils exist just to rubber-stamp things that the governing body wants to be done. Perhaps transparency from IBSA signals something different, but it will be hard to tell.
A barrier to that transparency is a push for speed with IBSA targeting the IBSA World Games, which begin August 18th as the place to get votes in for the members of this committee. That said, everybody involved in building the council would be ineligible to participate in the council so cannot operate in their own interests on the council.
The other idea put forward by IBSA in board meetings this week was the creation of a new position within the organization, a Director of Sport. Currently, there isn’t a single person who oversees all competitions of IBSA but rather each sport has a chairperson, and the seven of them meet together in committee. This decision will allow one leader to oversee all the sporting elements of IBSA and allow the President to focus on more pressing concerns. There is no insight yet into how this recruitment will occur or when an appointment will be made.
MANCHESTER, England, United Kingdom – As the International Paralympic Committee seeks to get out of being a sports governing body they announced their next step in removing swimming and athletics from their management. On Tuesday the IPC announced UK Sport and the British Paralympic Association as the partners to create those governing bodies.
The process began almost one year ago with the IPC calling for expressions of interest. 12 were received for these two sports and the decision of the IPC Governing Board was in favor of UK Sport and the BPA to run both sports.
UK Sport and the BPA’s proposal included setting up a headquarters for both sports in Manchester which will put further distance with the IPC based in Switzerland. It is not clear how the organizations will be distanced from the British bodies.
With this announcement the next phase will be entering into negotiations on how the new bodies will take shape. Since UK Sport and the BPA are the preferred partners these will be exclusive negotiations.
Under the proposal both sports will have independent governance structures but have joint resources, thus cutting down on costs for the new bodies.
“We are extremely grateful and excited to begin exclusive discussions with UK Sport and the BPA regarding the transfer of governance of the sports of Para athletics and Para swimming,” said IPC President Andrew Parsons.
“The establishment of independent and stand-alone international Para sport federations represents an exciting period of transition and development for Para athletics and Para swimming,” said Dame Katherine Grainger, Chair of UK Sport. “A new home in Manchester is a huge vote of confidence for the city which is becoming a real hub for Para sport, and we are very pleased that these new federations will be based here in the UK.”
World Swimming and World Athletics were both supportive of the decision which likely suggests that unlike the International Ski Federation they were not interested in the role.
TERREBONE, QC, Canada – When Canada named its World Para Ice Hockey Championship squad there was one notable name, Raphaelle Tousignant.
The 20-year-old from Quebec made history becoming the first woman included in the roster for the tournament. The tournament is ostensibly a “mixed” tournament and a mixed sport but it is overwhelmingly male-dominated, as demonstrated by historic rosters, with only three women ever being featured in the Paralympic Games tournament.
While women’s para ice hockey is beginning to take hold as separate events for women are taking place there’s still no major event for women, something Tousignant is well aware of.
“My only way was to be part of the men’s team to go there; it’s still the only way right now. So I just started to say to everyone, ‘I want to be part of the men’s team’ … and people were like, ‘you’re just young, you’re still a child, you’re not being realistic. You’re a woman, they are men and they are way bigger,'” said Tousignant to CBC.
The Canadian team had a selection camp last September and Tousignant made the cut. She wasn’t the only woman at the camp with Alanna Mah also scoring an invite, the first time two women had been invited.
“The talent and the skill and the commitment is at a level higher than ever,” Canada captain Tyler McGregor said. “So I think that’s a testament to what she’s done and the work that she’s put in and just her passion for the sport, but also for wanting to make an impact and really push forward the women’s side of our sport.”
She clearly has the ability and an innate ability to read the game, something that could be the difference between winning the tournament and going out early.
“She brings a feistiness and a competitive spirit to the ice. I think that her hockey IQ and her spatial awareness really show. She’s got great vision and the ability to make plays. She communicates well and brings a real good spirit,” said Head Coach Russ Herrington.
It’s difficult enough with the pressure of Canada on your shoulders before a hockey tournament but Tousignant also seems to have the weight of all women on hers as well.
“Everyone is looking at me. I’m representing the women’s side of the game right now, so it’s a big pressure. I’m just trying to not focus on that,” Tousignant said.
The International Paralympic Committee is seeking to have a separate women’s tournament by the 2030 Paralympic Games but until then it’s only the “mixed” event.
The World Championships are being hosted by Canada for the first time in Moose Jaw, Saskatoon this week with the final being played on Sunday.
DUBAI – In an all-emergency services final the Dubai Police General Command claimed gold in the NAS Wheelchair Basketball tournament in Dubai on Saturday. The police defeated the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services 54-36.
Ashraf Abuzed, formerly of the Egyptian National Team, was the star for the police, who took charge of the game early. After breaking away in the early stages the police never looked back and claimed the comfortable win.
The bronze medal match was held earlier in the day and the Roads and Traffic Authority took home the minor medal. Abuzed won the player of the tournament award while Mansour Abdul Rahman playing for the RTA was the highest scorer.
“The championship saw fierce competition among all the participating teams, but the Dubai Police were as able to take first place thanks to the team’s efforts and the support of the General Department for Community Happiness,” said Dubai Police Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri. “Today, we are reaping the benefits of those efforts after having previously finished third in the competition.”
The NAS sports tournament has been a part of the Dubai sporting calendar for a decade. Always played as part of Ramadan celebrations, wheelchair basketball has been a significant part of the event from day zero.
“Through its numerous initiatives and events over the past ten years, the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament has significantly contributed to integrating people with disabilities into society and introducing them to sports, particularly wheelchair basketball, which is growing in popularity in the UAE,” said Majid Al-Usaimi, Executive Director of the Dubai Club for People of Determination.
The tournament effectively serves as the United Arab Emirates’ national championship for wheelchair basketball so is always hotly contested
SYDNEY – Australian investigative reporting news program Four Corners has uncovered rampant cheating of the classification system.
In a broadcast that ran on Sunday on the ABC network journalists uncovered abuses of the system, with many athletes and officials speaking out. The system of classification is flawed and easily manipulated, with para-sport now being big business the incentives for cheating are there.
As the ABC is based out of Australia a strong focus of the Four Corners episode was on Australia. Among the allegations was the idea that certain athletes are protected from being properly classified.
“There are still athletes, currently, who are misrepresenting their abilities, not only in this country but throughout the world,” said former IPC chief classifier and Australian Paralympic Committee medical director Jane Buckley.
In Australia sports funding from the government is based on how many medals are won. This incentivizes doing anything to gain an advantage as winning one more gold medal can be the difference for one more employee.
The ABC reporters obtained documents including one from the IPC which saw concerns brought up by classifiers. Among the notable complaints were “the system does not work” and there are “no repercussions for those who cheat”.
Former IPC Chief Executive Xavier Gonzalez suggested that classification should be taken out of the IPC’s hands and given to a new independent body. Notably, the only times the IPC has brought up classification cheating has been from sports not run by the IPC like wheelchair basketball but never about sports it runs like swimming.
A common topic on pool decks at events is classification, not only if opponents are classified correctly but how to cheat at classification.
“It is very easy to exaggerate in a classification,” said Maddison Elliot, former Paralympic swimmer for Australia.
Swimming may have the most controversial example of potential classification cheating, Amanda Reid (nee Fowler), although she has been cleared of any wrongdoing. Fowler started her athletics career as a speed skater (a non-para sport), but as a teenager moved to para-sport starting in the intellectually disabled classification in swimming. After failing to medal at the London 2012 Paralympic Games she moved classifications to a visually impaired one.
“She never said anything about having other disabilities to me in the time that I was friends with her,” said Elliot who was surprised when she saw her on the pool deck with a white cane.
When Rio 2016 came up she no longer had the white cane and was classified as an athlete with cerebral palsy this time in cycling, it worked as she claimed gold. ABC was very clear that no medical records were seen and Reid may have multiple disabilities, but the gaining and then losing a cane certainly struck many as odd. Reid’s lawyers informed the ABC that they had received false information.
One of the people surprised by Reid’s changing classification was her former coach Simon Watkins who wrote a complaint to Swimming Australia. “My worry is that this completely devalues the classification system … and makes the country a joke in the international scene.”
Swimming consistently came up as a sport of concern with Buckley saying that she especially saw issues in the sport. “I was told to turn a blind eye,” she said.
One of the ways athletes spoke about being encouraged to cheat at classification was to do a hard workout before classification. Being fatigued would make parts of the classification more difficult for an athlete and thus lead to them being classified incorrectly.
This notably happened to British athlete Rebecca Chin, who was stripped of a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games and branded a classification cheater. Chin has hyper-flexible ankles but when she was classified she was told she had cerebral palsy. At the time of classification, Chin was 16 years old and the adults in her athletic life convinced her to fatigue herself before her classification leading to the misclassification and diagnosis.
Some athletes find themselves having to exaggerate conditions to avoid questions and challenges from opponents. This saw cyclist Stuart Jones fake a limp at events because he “had to look disabled” a shocking statement from a man with a spinal cord injury. His classification was questioned in the broadcast because he races in a tricycle classification but had ridden a two-wheeled bike which should make him ineligible. In court, Jones testified that he made the switch after crashes on a two-wheeled bike, although Cycling Australia was not aware he had ridden a bicycle, despite evidence showing him doing that in CA-sanctioned events.
Reform is needed in the classification system. Not only does it see athletes cheating the system to be given an “easier” classification but also talented athletes end up given a “harder” classification due to opponents’ protests. This has been especially common in wheelchair basketball in speaking with athletes. Many para-athletes have ended up abeing classified out of a sport, not because they are functionally ineligible but because they are too good. Taking this out of the hands of the IPC and into a different body may be a vital step to fixing these issues.
Hannah Stodel in action at Rio 2016 Photo: World Sailing
LONDON – Four-time Paralympian Hannah Stodel (GBR) was appointed the Para World Sailing Manager by World Sailing on Monday.
The British legend will have a key goal of reinstatement into the Paralympic Games after the event has been out of the program from 2021, not included on the preliminary list for the next two Games.
With such a significant challenge ahead the governing body opted for an athlete to head the work. Ostensibly World Sailing says that her viewpoint as an athlete brings a unique perspective to the job.
“Para Sailing has been growing rapidly and has a bright future. We should be community-led and serving the needs of Para Sailors around the world while providing the framework for further growth within the sport,” said Stodel in a press release. “The Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games is the new target for reinstatement and I cannot wait to consult with athletes past and present to be able to serve the needs of the next generations. This is an exciting challenge but Para Sailing has been my passion since childhood and I am thrilled to be able to make a difference for the worldwide community.”
“Hannah’s experience at the highest levels of Para Sailing and passion for the sport will be absolutely vital,” said World Sailing Head of International Development Koray Ezer. “This is a hugely positive step forward for Para Sailing and all forms of sailing, and we look forward to working together to support Para Sailors at upcoming Sailing World Championships and Para Development Programmes around the world.”
2032 is a date that will be around World Sailing a lot, with that being the earliest the sport can hope for reinstatement. Brisbane offers a unique venue for sailing at the Paralympic Games with the ability to launch a regatta from the center of the city.
Stodel’s other responsibilities will include managing relationships with governing bodies, committees, athletes, coaches, classes, and equipment manufacturers.
Para Sports 