Next week's wheelchair basketball tournament in Beijing is
giving Olympic organizers a final chance to make sure
that preparations are in the place for the Paralympic competition
in September.
The tournament, an invitational, will be held at the newly-built
National Indoor Stadium from January 20-25.
It is one of two pre-Paralympic test events that have been
scheduled and follows on from last year's Good Luck Beijing
International Goalball Tournament.
Eight teams from six countries will participate. The women's
side features teams from China, Canada, Germany and Japan, while
the men's teams come from China, Canada, the Netherlands and
Australia.
Overseeing the matches will be 24 international officials from
the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF), the
sport's governing body.
A total of 842 volunteers will be assigned to their posts on
January 18.
Games organizers will also take this opportunity to disseminate
knowledge about the Paralympics.
Zhu Shanlu, head of the Beijing Olympic Education team, has
already begun workshops to educate BOCOG staff, technical
officials, volunteers and Olympic sponsors about the
Paralympics.
"Para" refers to the fact that the two Games are held in tandem,
as opposed to implying some kind of disability. BOCOG has pledged
that the 2008 Paralympics will be a "Games of Equal Splendor."
Nonetheless, cheap tickets attest to the struggling popularity
of many events.
Wheelchair basketball is one of the few exceptions that enjoy
evergreen support.
It was invented in 1946 by US basketball players keen to shrug
off their wartime injuries and re-experience the exhilaration of an
athletic sport in a team environment.
It is now played in over 80 countries by some 25,000 people with
physical disabilities.
It is similar to basketball except that the wheelchair is
considered a part of the player's body.
Every team has five players and seven substitutes; each game is
made up of four 10-minute periods.
Players who spin their wheels more than two times without
dribbling are booked for traveling violations.
Faster wheelchairs are also employed featuring anti-tipping
devices and up to four wheels.
The Beijing Paralympics will run from September 6-17. It is
expected to attract 4,000 athletes from over 150 countries and
regions. They will compete in 20 sports (471 disciplines) including
goalball, boccia, rowing, sailing (held in Qingdao), equestrian
(Hong Kong) and wheelchair rugby.
(China Daily January 18, 2008)