It was finals day in Beijing today but before the medal games came the semi finals. The BC1 competition was dominated by the Thai athletes. Pattaya Tadtong made short work in his game with David Smith. Tadtong went 5-0 up after 2 and cruised to an overall 8-0 victory. In the other semi final Witsanu Haudpradit looked to have his work cut out against Soulanis. An incredible 3rd end saw Haudpradit take a commanding 7-1 lead in the third and was able to cruise into a final with his fellow countryman.
Yan rawed into a 5-0 lead in his game against Sohn. Sohn was able to pull 2 points back in the last 2 ends but it was never enough to trouble the man from China. Sugimura had looked incredible all week until his semi final game with Saengampa. The Thai booked his place in the final with a 9-1 win.
The all-Korean semi final between Choi and Jeong was won by Jeong. It was a shame these 2 had to meet in the semi final as it had all the makings for a fantastic final with the way both players have played all week. Jeong had to wait to find out who his opponent would be. The longest match on court was between Kim and Takahashi. The 2 played an extremely tight game with the man from Japan upsetting the Korean spectators to take his place in the final.
The biggest shock of the round was Leung’s elimination. He lost 5-2 to Zheng, and he’ll be hoping he can win the 3rd/4th place play off game to keep his record of not finishing outside of the top 3 in a competition for over 2 years. Stephen McGuire booked his place after defeating Kim 3-1 in a tight game on court 2.
Into the finals and the all Thai BC1 final was won by Pattaya Tadtong. He took the first 2 ends to take a 3-0 lead into the 3rd. Haudpradit pulled 2 back but in a tight 4th end the pair shared a point each and Tadtong took the gold. David Smith managed to take control of his game early on and was able to fend off Soulanis’ efforts. He won the game 4-2 to secure bronze.
The Thai dominance continued in the BC2. Saengampa raced into a 7-0 lead and played the game out to ensure victory. Yan scored 4 in the last end to make the score-line more respectable but he was the first to appreciate the brilliance of Saengampa after the game. Sugimura came from 5-0 down to take the bronze medal after winning 6-5 in the play off game.
Many expected an all-Korean final in the BC3 event however Takahashi prevented that happening earlier in the morning. He was unable to stop Jeong with the Korean taking the gold after a 9-0 win. The bronze was won by Hansoo Kim with an equally dominant 7-0 win against Choi.
The BC4 encounter between Zheng and McGuire was the game with the biggest audience. The pair played some of the best boccia of the week with McGuire coming out on top, eventually winning 4-3. Leung ensured he was able to keep his 100% record of being on the podium at every event in the last 2 years by winning his play off game 4-1.
FULL COMPETITION RESULTS TO FOLLOW
