Slovakia will bid to repeat their top placing in the boccia medal table when the 2024 Paralympic Games begins in Paris, following the completion of the tournament draw.
BC4 athlete Martin Streharsky will spearhead the Slovak challenge after winning gold in the mixed pairs at Tokyo 2020.
Streharsky will compete in the Men’s Individual BC4 after being drawn in Pool 2 along with Edilson Chica Chica (Colombia), Iulian Ciobanu (Canada) and Andre Costa (Portugal).
Slovakia won two golds in Tokyo – their other came from Samuel Andrejcik in the Mixed Individual BC4 – and they will have a five-strong contingent in Paris.
BC1 Tomas Kral, BC2 duo Eliska Jankechova and Robert Mezik, and BC4 Kristina Vozarova will compete alongside Streharsky when the tournament begins on August 29.
The draw comprised 124 athletes who will compete in separate men’s and women’s events for the first time at a Paralympics.
Seeded players were drawn across the various pools, followed by the next highest ranked players.
The BC1 women’s and men’s pools consist of three athletes per pool, as does the women’s BC2. There are four athletes in each pool in the men’s BC2, as well as both the women’s and men’s BC3 and BC4.
As always, the draw has thrown up some intriguing match-ups. Double Paralympic individual BC1 champion David Smith (Great Britain) – who took gold in Rio and Tokyo – has been drawn in the same Pool 1 as Daniel Perez (Netherlands), the man who took silver in Rio eight years ago.
World ranked No.1 Andreza Vitoria Oliveira (Brazil) is in the same Women’s Individual BC1 pool as Yuriko Fujii (Japan), a bronze medalist in Tokyo in the mixed team event.
Hiu Lam Yeung (Hong Kong), who came fifth in the Mixed BC2 event in Tokyo – and went on to achieve the number one female ranking position – will take on Slovakian Junior Athlete of the Year 2022, Jankechova, in the Women’s Individual BC2.
Silver medal winner in Rio in the Mixed Individual BC2, Watcharaphon Vongsa (Thailand) faces a tricky match-up in his Pool 1 encounter against the experienced Mezik (Slovakia) who will be appearing at his fourth Paralympic Games.
Home favourite Sonia Heckel (France) – gold medal winner at last year’s European Championships – has been bracketed in the same Women’s Individual BC3 pool as Ladamanee Kla-Han (Thailand), bronze medal winner at the 2022 Asian Para Games.
In the Men’s Individual BC3, defending Paralympic champion Adam Peska (Czech Republic) must put his world number one reputation on the line in a pool containing last year’s European bronze medalist Damian Iskrzycki (Poland), Tak Wah Tse (Hong Kong) and Rodrigo Romero (Argentina).
Alison Levine (Canada), Parapan American Games champion 2023 at women’s BC4, will go head-to-head in Pool 2 with Nataliia Konenko (Ukraine), a recent runner-up at the Sao Paulo World Boccia Cup event.
In the men’s BC4 competition, silver medal winer in Tokyo, Pornchok Larpyen (Thailand) faces the Pool challenge of rising star Shunsuke Uchida (Japan), Artem Kolinko (Ukraine) and Mahmoud Allam (Egypt).
Draw for Paralympic Games Pool Stages
Women’s Individual BC1
Pool 1
– Andreza Oliveira (Brazil)
– Yuriko Fujii (Japan)
– Allen Flores (Argentina)
Pool 2
– Yee Ting Jeralyn Tan (Singapore)
– Amagoia Arrieta (Spain)
– Aurelie Aubert (France)
Pool 3
– Yushae Andrade (Bermuda)
– Hiromi Endo (Japan)
– Kinga Koza (Poland)
Pool 4
– Dora Basic (Croatia)
– Qi Zhang (China)
– Maha Aounallah (Tunisia)
Men’s Individual BC1
Pool 1
– David Smith (Great Britain)
– Daniel Perez (Netherlands)
– Jose Oliveira (Portugal)
Pool 2
– Muhamad Syafa (Malaysia)
– Dohyun Kim (South Korea)
– Tomas Kral (Slovakia)
Pool 3
– Witsanu Huadpradit (Thailand)
– Eduardo Sanchez Reyes (Mexico)
– Sung Joon Jung (South Korea)
Pool 4
– Andre Ramos (Brazil)
– John Loung (Canada)
– Lance Cryderman (Canada)
Women’s Individual BC2
Pool 1
– Claire Taggart (Great Britain)
– Cristina Goncalves (Portugal)
– Joselyn Leon (Colombia)
Pool 2
– Hiu Lam Yeung (Hong Kong)
– Rebeca Duarte (Brazil)
– Eliska Jankechova (Slovakia)
Pool 3
– Soyeong Jeong (South Korea)
– Ana Correia (Portugal)
– Kayleigh Haggo (Great Britain)
Pool 4
– Chantal van Engelen (Netherlands)
– Gischa Zayana (Indonesia)
– Vivien Nagy (Hungary)
Men’s Individual BC2
Pool 1
– Watcharaphon Vongsa (Thailand)
– Robert Mezik (Slovakia)
– Mario Sayes (Chile)
– Faycal Meguenni (Algeria)
Pool 2
– Worawut Saengampa (Thailand)
– Francis Rombouts (Belgium)
– Minkyu Seo (South Korea)
– Ayed Ben Youb (Algeria)
Pool 3
– Maciel Santos (Brazil)
– Nadav Levi (Israel)
– Marco Dekker (Netherlands)
– Achraf Tayahi (Tunisia)
Pool 4
– Felix Ardi Yudha (Indonesia)
– Takayuki Hirose (Japan)
– Danik Allard (Canada)
– Zhiqiang Yan (China)
Pool 5
– Hidetaka Sugimura (Japan)
– Muhammad Bintang Herlangga (Indonesia)
– Chee Hoong Lee (Malaysia)
– Zhijian Lan (China)
Pool 6
– Luis Cristaldo (Argentina)
– David Araujo (Brazil)
– Iuri Silva (Portugal)
– Aurelien Fabre (France)
Women’s Individual BC3
Pool 1
– Sonia Heckel (France)
– Ladamanee Kla-Han (Thailand)
– Edyta Owczarz (Poland)
– Marcela Cermakova (Czech Republic)
Pool 2
– Yuen Kei Ho (Hong Kong)
– Ana Costa (Portugal)
– Evani Calado (Brazil)
– Elanza Jordaan (South Africa)
Pool 3
– Evelyn Oliveira (Brazil)
– Jamieson Leeson (Australia)
– Sunhee Kang (South Korea)
– Sally Kidson (Great Britain)
Pool 4
– Anna Ntenta (Greece)
– Niurka Callupe (Peru)
– Ayane Ichinoe (Japan)
– Stefania Ferrando (Italy)
Men’s Individual BC3
Pool 1
– Daniel Michel (Australia)
– William Arnott (Great Britain)
– Patrick Wilson (Great Britain)
– Karabo Morapedi (Botswana)
Pool 2
– Adam Peska (Czech Republic)
– Damian Iskrzycki (Poland)
– Tak Wah Tse (Hong Kong)
– Rodrigo Romero (Argentina)
Pool 3
– Howon Jeong (South Korea)
– Jose Goncalves (Portugal)
– Akkadej Choochuenklin (Thailand)
– Jesus Romero (Argentina)
Pool 4
– Grigorios Polychronidis (Greece)
– Mateus Carvalho (Brazil)
– Masayuki Arita (Japan)
– Jules Menard (France)
Women’s Individual BC4
Pool 1
– Leidy Chica Chica (Colombia)
– Chrysi Morfi Metzou (Greece)
– Anamaria Arambasic (Serbia)
– Sara Aller Mayo (Spain)
Pool 2
– Alison Levine (Canada)
– Nataliia Konenko (Ukraine)
– Noor Askuzaimey Mat Salim (Malaysia)
– Hanaa Elfar (Egypt)
Pool 3
– Yuen Cheung (Hong Kong)
– Nuanchan Phonsila (Thailand)
– Kristina Vozarova (Slovakia)
– Ximei Lin (China)
Pool 4
– Carla Oliveira (Portugal)
– Alexandra Szabo (Hungary)
– Anita Raguwaran (Australia)
– Laissa Polyana Teixeira (Brazil)
Men’s Individual BC4
Pool 1
– Pornchok Larpyen (Thailand)
– Shunsuke Uchida (Japan)
– Artem Kolinko (Ukraine)
– Mahmoud Allam (Egypt)
Pool 2
– Edilson Chica Chica (Colombia)
– Iulian Ciobanu (Moldova)
– Martin Streharsky (Slovakia)
– Andre Costa (Portugal)
Pool 3
– Stephen McGuire (Great Britain)
– Euclides Grisales (Colombia)
– Yuansen Zheng (China)
– Abdul Razzaq Abdul Rahman (Iraq)
Pool 4
– Yuk Wing Leung (Hong Kong)
– Davor Komar (Croatia)
– Boris Nicolai (Germany)
– Vasile Agache (Romania)
