Australia’s boccia athletes had mixed results on the opening day of competition, with Daniel Michel taking the win and Jamieson Leeson recorded a loss.
Michel, who is a NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete and ramp operator Ashlee Maddern staged a come from behind 10-2 win against South Africa’s Karabo Morapedi.
After trailing leading into the third end, the world No.1 rallied, delivering a decisive win to set his Paralympic campaign up well.
“The first game is always a tough one, but good to get it over and done with and get a strong win,” Michel said.
“I wanted to come out and play well and set the tone [for the Games]. The guy I was playing today, I knew as long as I handled my end of the business I should be comfortable. He pushed me a little bit early on but I was able to come through at the end, so I was happy with that.
“Fantastic atmosphere, it sounds awesome out there, it’s great to play in front of a crowd because you feed off that energy and it helps you play really well,” he said.
Leeson, who is also a NSWIS athlete and ramp operator Jasmin Haydon went down 1-6 to Korea’s Sunhee Kang, but were pleased to get the first match out of the way.
“Sunhee is an amazing player and I’ve admired her for a long time,” Leeson said. “This is the first time I’ve been able to play her and I was actually really excited for the game.
“Now I need to reset, start fresh tomorrow. I’ve got an early game which will be nice to start the day off with a match and every boccia court is different so we’ll see what tomorrow brings.
“Tomorrow I’m playing Sally Kidson from Great Britain, another amazing athlete that I haven’t played before so I’m really excited for that one. Another tough match but it’s a very competitive pool [group],” she said.
Both Leeson and Michel will compete again tomorrow at 2:00pm and 9:40pm respectively, in the second of three pool matches.
They will join up for the BC3 mixed pairs starting on Tuesday September 3.
Article and image courtesy of Paralympics Australia
