Kang Sun-hee, who participated in the first Paralympics, won a bronze medal in the Boccia women's individual event

Sep 02, 2024

Kang Sun-hee of the Boccia national team carefully pitches in the Boccia bronze medal match at the 2024 Paris Paralympics at South Paris Arena 1 in Paris, France, early on the 2nd (Korea time). Presented by the Korea Sports Council for the Disabled

'Boccia's medal hunt for ready filial piety has begun'

Boccia's first medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics came out. Kang Sun-hee (47, KEPCO KPS), who is on the Paralympic stage for the first time, won the bronze medal in the women's individual (BC3 grade) bronze medal match with one-up skills.

Kang Sun-hee beat Brazil's Ivani Caradou by a combined score of 7-2 (2-0 3-0 2-0-2) in the women's individual bronze medal match (BC3) at the Paralympics Boccia at 1:10 a.m. on the 1st (Korea time). With this, Kang Sun-hee enjoyed winning a medal at her first Paralympics.

Kang Sun-hee said that participating in the Paralympics is the goal of her life. The medal that I already won after achieving my life goal was just a sign of infinite honor, regardless of color. At the moment the victory was decided, Kang Sun-hee smiled brightly and came out to the center of the stadium with Park Se-yeol, the match partner, and coach Lim Kwang-taek to express her gratitude to Korean fans in the stands.

Kang Sun-hee, who was frustrated by Hong Kong's K-Hawiann in the semifinals, lost 1-4 to Hong Kong's K-Hawiann, saying, `I had many opportunities, but I'm feeling heavy because I missed them all by my mistake. However, there is a bronze medal match left, so I will renew my mood and win a medal for sure." It's easy to say, but it's not easy to pull your mind together. It is not easy to focus on the new game by overcoming the unfairness of missing the first Paralympic final.

However, Kang Sun-hee managed to control her mind. And he had the best game in the bronze medal match.

In the first end, Kang Sun-hee's careful pitch and Karadou's mistake overlapped. With Kang Sun-hee's red ball close to the target, Karadou's fourth blue ball was too strong. He hit the target ball out of the line. In this case, place the white target at the center of the stadium instead of the original location and start. And the side that hits the target ball pitches first. It is the same as a penalty because the latter is advantageous.

Kang Sun-hee of the Boccia national team won the bronze medal in the women's individual bronze medal match at the 2024 Paris Paralympics at South Paris Arena 1 in Paris, France, early on the 2nd (Korea time). Presented by the Korea Sports Council for the Disabled

In the end, with Karadou finishing his sixth pitch, Kang Sun-hee pushed his ball with the last pitch and moved it closer around the target. Kang Sun-hee's two balls were closer and scored two points.

The second end was also one-sided. With Karadou rolling his sixth ball, Kang Sun-hee left as many as three balls. It was a chance to score a lot of points. Kang Sun-hee calmly scored three points. The third and fourth ends were similar. In the third end, Kang Sun-hee scored two points, widening the gap to 7-0. Since Boccia can get up to six points from one end, the game was already decided, so the fourth end continued. Karadou did his best to get two points. A glorious defeat, the crowd applauded.

Kang Sun-hee's bronze medal win can be said to be the signal of Korea's Boccia's medal hunt for the Paris Paralympics.

In the men's and women's individual semi-finals held earlier, Jung Ho-won (38, Gangwon-do Provincial Sports Council for the Disabled, men's BC3) and Jung Sung-joon (46, Gyeonggi-do Provincial Sports Federation for the Disabled, men's BC1) and Jung So-young (36, Chungcheongnam-do Provincial Sports Federation for the Disabled, women's BC2) advanced to the final. Over the course of two and three days, South Korea's Boccia will challenge the achievable maximum of '3 gold medals' with '3' secured.

wman@sportschosun.com