World's Strongest Korea Boccia, Mixed Fair & Group '사냥金 Hunting' Starts Good

Sep 03, 2024

Boccia CEO Jung Ho-won. Presented by the Korea Sports Council for the Disabled

'I'm going to win another gold medal.'

South Korea's Boccia, which showed off its world's strongest ability by achieving an unprecedented feat of '10 consecutive Paralympic gold medals' by winning the gold medal in the individual event at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games by Jung Ho-won (38, Gangwon-do Provincial Sports Council for the Disabled', has set out to hunt for another gold medal. This time, it is a mixed pair and mixed team event. It was a fresh start. They won all the first round of the group qualifying round lightly.

Jung Ho-won and Kang Sun-hee (47, KEPCO KPS), who participated in the first Group B match of the Boccia Mixed Pair (BC3 Grade) qualifying round at South Paris Arena 1 in Paris, France on the evening of the 3rd (Korea time), beat England's William Arnott (25) and Sally Kidson (20) by a combined score of 6-2 (0-2 1-0 3-0 2-0) at the 4th end. Jung Ho-won, who won the gold medal in the individual event the previous day, seemed to be less tired at the beginning of the game, but he led the game with his unique sharp pitch by increasing his concentration from the second end. Jung Ho-won said, `I had a hard time in the beginning because the stadium where I played the preliminary round didn't roll as well as I thought"Since there are only two qualifying matches, the second match would have been burdensome if we had lost the first match, but I'm glad we got off to a good start."

Boccia representative Kang Sun-hee. Presented by the Korea Sports Council for the Disabled

Jung Ho-won and Kang Sun-hee will play the final preliminary match against Thailand at 3 a.m. on the 4th. In the mixed pair, in which three teams compete in four groups, the second place in each group will advance to the quarterfinals. Kang Sun-hee said, `If Howon hadn't won the gold medal in the individual event, the mixed pair event would have been burdensome because of the title '10 consecutive gold medals'.' `Fortunately, I feel a little light because Howon won it, but I will do as well as I have been doing so far to bring the gold medal.'

Boccia representative Jung Sung-jun. Presented by the Korea Sports Council for the Disabled

보치아 정소영. Presented by the Korea Sports Council for the Disabled

On the same day, South Korea beat Tunisia by a six-end total of 19-1 (1-1 5-0 1-0 4-0 6-0 0-2-0) in the first Group A preliminary round of the Boccia Mixed Group (BC1, BC2) in which Jung Sung-joon (46, Gyeonggi-do Provincial Boccia Federation for the Disabled), Jung So-young (36, Chungcheongnam-do Provincial Boccia Federation for the Disabled) and Seo Min-kyu (19, Ansan City Sports Association) participated together. In the first round of the qualifying round, which was held at 6 yen, South Korea finished the first end with a 1-1 draw, but from the second end, they did not give up a single point to the opponent and won by a large margin. Chung So-young said, `The first game worked out better than I thought,' adding, `It's a burden because we have a second game against Japan, which is always a rival to us. I'm going to focus a lot on the second game."

South Korea will play its second preliminary match against Japan at 3 a.m. on the 4th. In the mixed team event, three teams will also qualify in four groups, and the second place in each group will advance to the quarterfinals. Jung Sung-joon, who won the silver medal in the men's individual event (BC1 grade), is determined to win the team gold medal. Jung Sung-joon said "My goal is to win a gold medal in the team event and put a gold medal around the neck of our youngest member, Seo Min-gyu." Seo Min-kyu, the youngest and only teenager in the Korean squad, said, `I will trust my uncle and sister and do my best.'

wman@sportschosun.com