History made and records broken at the IBSA World Games

The last couple of weeks have seen the International Blind Sport Federation hold the IBSA World Games. The International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) has been representing athletes and sports for people with visual impairments for 40 years and its role in growing both Paralympic and Para sports is crucial.

The games are held every four years and are the highest level of competition in the IBSA’s calendar outside of the Paralympics. This year, they took place from 18th-27th August, and were held at the University of Birmingham, across the Edgbaston area and wider region.

The first title to be won in the 2023 games saw Argentina become the first women’s blind football champions in history, defeating Japan 2-1 in the final. Japan scored first and went into halftime leading the match however it was victory for Argentina as their number 10, Yohana Aguilar, scored two goals in the second half. In the fight for bronze, India and Sweden left it late and the game went to a penalty shootout, with Sweden claiming the podium spot. The England women unfortunately finished in 6th place, missing out on reaching the semi-finals on goal difference as they couldn’t find a goal against Sweden.

Partially sighted football was the next event to come to a close on 22nd August, with England competing against Ukraine in the final. The result remained a draw at 2-2 until the end of regular time with Adam Lione scoring twice for England and putting them ahead during the first half of extra time. However, it soon became heartbreak for England as Robert Tremba and Vadim Shvets scored for Ukraine to claim victory.

Day 11 of the tournament (Thursday 24th August) saw two powerlifting world-records being broken, as Ahmed Hemid of Egypt lifted 213kg in the 75kg section and in the 82.5kg section, Andril Myronets of Ukraine lifted a whopping 223kg.

Ahmed Hemid of Egypt (credit Richard Hall)

Argentina continued their football dominance on day 12 (Friday 25th August) as the men beat China 2-1 on penalties after 0-0 in regular time. The decisive penalties were scored by Ignacio Oviedo and Nahuel Heredia. Arguably the battle for bronze was more exciting, with the five time world champions Brazil defeating Colombia 7-1.

The men’s national team of Argentina

It was victory for Britain in the archery finals, winning six medals. Steve Prowse claimed gold, while Clive Jones, Nick Thomas, and Andrea Thomas won silver, and Debora Lea Wright came home with bronze.

The penultimate day of the games was the final day for chess, with Romanian Fide Master Dacian Pribeanu winning the gold medal in individual competition and silver in team competition. He had earlier told an interviewer that he was in Birmingham to win, and that is exactly what he did.

We also saw an end to the cricket at Edgbaston Stadium on this day, which had been included in the games for the first time. India VI women became the first ever cricket team to win silverware at the games as they defeated Australia by 9 wickets. Australia were 114/8 after the allotted 20 overs, but India were set a revised target of of 42 due to rain interfering with play, which they chased down in 3.3 overs.

It was then the men’s turn to take to the stage, as Pakistan claimed victory by 8 wickets over India. Pakistan remained unbeaten throughout the tournament and although India batted first and recorded a good score 184/3, Pakiston were able to chase down the target with just two wickets lost.

After 14 days of jam-packed action, the IBSA World Games were brought to a close on Sunday 27th August, with the goalball and tennis finals. In the women’s goalball final, China won the gold medal with a 3-0 victory over Japan. This secured them a place at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. The men’s final was more tense, as Japan came from behind to defeat their opponents South Korea 7-3 by full time.

In tennis, Pakistan’s Naqi Rizvi won gold in the B1 men’s final, defeating Lithuania’s Karolis Verbliugevicius 5-4 5-4. The gold medal for the B1 women’s final was awarded to Australia’s Grace Hobbs, with a 4-0 4-0 win over Colombia’s Nathalia Benavides. Britain’s Monica Smith was able to clutch gold in the B1 mixed doubles with her partner, Pakistan’s Naqi Rizvi, with a 7-6 victory over Spain’s Carlos Arbos Ginard and Italy’s Daniela Pieri. Earlier in the week, history had been made in the tennis as Australia’s Ataro Kasato –Green defeated his adult opponent 4-0 4-0 on his 12th birthday, to reach the quarter finals of his first major international tournament.

Ataro Kasato-Green after defeating his adult opponent

The closing ceremony for the games was held from 7:30pm on Sunday, wrapping up a thrilling 14 days of events. IBSA’s president Ilgar Rahimov said:

“A week ago I challenged our IBSA athletes to excite and inspire the world. And they most certainly did that. I saw excellence every day and on every field of play in all our sports”.

If you are interested in finding out more about the IBSA World Games, you can find the information over at https://www.ibsagames2023.co.uk/