How fierce is the dryland curling championship competition for disabled players?
2024-05-11 14:48:40
CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- At 10:50 am on May 9, the competition officially started.
Jiang Bowen from the Yangguangjiayuan team in Dadukou District, Chongqing, had firm eyes, knelt on one knee, held the handle of the pot and pushed it hard. Then the curling "sped" along the special track to the center of the circle. "Good job!" Applause and cheers came from around. It is hard for you to imagine that this is a disabled player just based on the movements.
On that day, the 8th Dryland Curling Competition of China Association of Persons with Intellectural Disability and their Relatives in China Disabled Ice and Snow Sports Season (Chongqing stop) was held in Dadukou. This event was hosted by the China Disabled Persons' Federation and jointly organized by the China Association of Persons with Intellectural Disability and their Relatives and the Chongqing Disabled Persons' Federation. A total of 8 representative teams, 32 Chongqing Special Olympics and integrated athletes participated.
It was a race accurate to the millimeter. The team from the special education school of Jiangjin District played against the team from Yangguangjiayuan of Dadukou District. After the hit, the players on both sides did not disperse, but gathered together to see whose curling was closer to the center of the target area, which is common in curling competitions. If both parties of the competition have entered the central area of the target area, and it is almost impossible to see who is close and who is far away, a ruler will be used for measurement.
Hu Bin, Chairman of China Association of Persons with Intellectural Disability and their Relatives, introduced that dryland curling was almost identical to curling in the Winter Olympics, but it was not completed on the ice surface. Skills were more emphasized, and collision would not occur during the exercise. There were not too many requirements for the physical fitness of the participants, so it was a sports event with wide participation by the disabled group and strong entertainment. However, to reach the level of "throwing the curling to wherever they want", it required a feel cultivated after hard work and numerous revisions. This was not easy for disabled players. Jiang Bowen said that before this competition, he exercised for more than two months and the key to the competition was to learn to master balance.
Repeating boring exercises did not make these children give up. At the game scene, you could find every child’s love for this sport in their eyes. Some players could not express themselves fluently, but when they heard curling, they would raise their head and smile at you, then said they were happy. (Translated by Wang Zhong, Fathom Language Limited)
Editor:江夷玮