Portugal will fight in both the Team and Pairs - BC4 gold medal events, while the Republic of Korea looks set to repeat its Athens Pairs - BC3 gold performance at the Fencing Hall on Friday, September 12.
Team BC1/2
The World No. 1 and 2 teams Great Britain and Portugal will clash for the gold medal at 3:55 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8). The British will be captained by Nigel Murray, the Beijing 2008 silver medalist in BC2, Sydney 2000 gold medalist and 2002 world champion. His younger teammates Dan Bentley and David Smith, the World No. 2 in BC1 and 2007 World Cup champion, join Murray and reserve Zoe Robinson in representing Britain in their first Paralympic Boccia gold medal match since 1984 in New York.
Portugal, led by Beijing 2008 Individual gold medalist Joao Paulo Fernandes will be defending the title the team won at Athens 2004. Fernandes also won the Individual title in Athens, and that means he has the chance to make history and become the first athlete to win double gold medals in Boccia at the Paralympic Games. His teammates include veteran Fernando Ferreira, the Individual bronze medalist in Athens 2004 and the current world No. 2 in BC2 class plus Antonio Marques, Beijing 2008 Individual silver medalist in BC1, and reserve Cristina Goncalves.
The bronze medal match will be fought out by Spain and China. China is ranked world No. 22, the lowest in the competition, but the team has put up surprisingly good performances. Spain, the World No. 3, won the bronze medal in Athens 2004, Silver in Sydney 2000, and gold in Atlanta 1996 and Barcelona 1992.
Pairs - BC3
Spain will take on the ROK in a repeat of the Athens 2004 bold medal match. The ROK pairs, Park Keon-woo and Jeong Ho-won, plus reserve Shin Bo-mee, will go into the final bursting with confidence. The ROK is the World No. 1 Team and has improved with every match, already having beaten Spain 9-3 in the pool stages. The ROK swamped Thailand 15-0 in the semifinals and scored nine points in each of three pool matches. The ROK players are set to repeat the success of their predecessors, An Myung-hoon and Park Seong-hyeon, in this event four years ago in Athens.
The Spanish also lost 1-5 to China in the pool stage, but fought back to get a second chance to win a Paralympic gold medal. Spanish duo Santiago Pesquera and Jose Manuel Rodriguez plus reserve Yolanda Martin were the ROK's opponents in the Athens 2004 final. The gold medal match is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. local time (UTC/GMT +8). Thailand will play Portugal for the bronze medal at 10:30 a.m. local time.
Pairs - BC4
World No. 1 Portugal and World No. 6 Brazil will contend for the gold at 3:55 p.m. local time. Portugal is represented by BC4 World No. 2 Bruno Valentim and partner Fernando Pereira. Brazil's Dirceu Pinto and Eliseu Santos won the gold and bronze medals in the Beijing 2008 Individual competition and a second medal each is a sure thing.
Brazil qualified in pool A comfortably and beat the Czech Republic 4-3 in the semifinals. Portugal squeezed through from pool B on points difference after losing 2-3 to Hong Kong, China, but went on to beat World No. 2 Spain in the semifinal. Portugal was silver medalist in Pairs - BC4 at Athens 2004. The Czech Republic and Spain will fight for the bronze at 10:30 a.m. (UTC/GMT +8).
(BOCOG September 12, 2008)