A tie break has ended the Australian Boccia teams' Paralympics after the BC3 pairs were defeated in their preliminary match of the day.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Three athletes competed in the pairs, with the Aussie combination of Dunedoo's Jamieson Leeson, Spencer Cotie and Individual Bronze Medallist Daniel Michel all aiming for a spot in the semi-finals.
The day started strongly for the group with wins against Portugal (4-3) and Brazil (5-2) but the Aussies had their work cut out for them against the world no.2 Hong Kong pairs.
Both teams produced some of their best play and continually pushed each other throughout the match as the scores were tied at 3-a-piece after the four ends.
READ ALSO:
The game headed into a tiebreaker and with a semi-final spot on offer, the Hong Kong side were able to win 1-0 with the Aussies finishing third in their pool.
For Leeson, it was her first Paralympic Games and she told the teams media it was a wonderful experience despite the team not getting the result they were after.
"Today's been a massive day having three games in one day," she said.
"Hong Kong put up a really big fight in what was an incredible Games to be included in."
Cotie agreed with Leeson and gave credit to their highly ranked opposition.
"It was a really tight game and we played well but credit to Hong Kong, they were better than us and I expect them to make the gold medal match," he said.
After winning an individual medal already, Michel was disappointed given the coverage Boccia in Australia has been able to receive.
"I know we are all disappointed," he said.
"But I think we will take some solace from the fact we were so close and if we were just one or two percent better we might have crossed the line.
"So next time we will focus on that."
Leeson will now return home to Dunedoo to complete her HSC to be held later this year.
But the Central West local is hoping to relocate to Sydney after the HSC to support her dreams of going to Paris in 2024.
"I usually go to Sydney every second week to train with the boys and then train at home on the other weeks," she said.
"So I'll be really able to pick up my training for Paris."
Cotie agreed he also would love to return to competition in Paris which is only three years away.
"I will go back to uni and start preparing for Paris," he said.
While they may not have medalled, the team were thrilled to have played a part in raising the profile of the sport in Australia.
"The Games have really but boccia on the map, not only in terms of the boccia world but also back home in Australia," Michel said.
"It's a very underappreciated sport, so to have people I don't even know talking about boccia is a pretty surreal and special thing.
"We work fantastically, we train so much together and have come along in leaps and bounds."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News