The opening day of competition at the 2019 Global Games delivered medals and outstanding performances for hosts Australia in Brisbane on Sunday (13 October).

Records tumble to Russia, Australia in the pool

By Katie Hopkins

A flying start to swimming at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre kicked-off with record breaking heats and finals.

Russia’s Viacheslav Emeliantsev (24.31) won gold in the men’s 50m freestyle II1, setting a new World record.

Russia’s Valeriia Shabalina started her competition strong, breaking three Global Games records in the woman’s 200m individual medley II1 (2:28:15), women’s 100 backstroke II1 (1:09:15) and women’s 800m freestyle (9:23:32).

World records were also broken in the men’s 4x50m freestyle relay with efforts from Australia’s Jack Ireland, Josh Alford, Mitchell Kilduff and Liam Schluter (1:40.64).

Australia also shone in the women’s equivalent as Madeleine McTernan, Paige Leonhardt, Nicole Fielden and Amy Cook stormed to gold in 1:57.11.

Paralympian Michelle Alonso Morales (28.76) took home gold for Spain in the women’s 50m freestyle II1, beating out returning Global Games champion Cook (28.90).

Spain also claimed gold in the 50m freestyle II2 with Camino Martinez De La Riva finishing in 37.55 seconds. First place in the women’s 50m freestyle II3 went to Australia’s Gabriella Howells (32.06), who also claimed victory in the women’s 200m II3 individual medley.

“I’m feeling so excited and I tried my hardest. Go Australia,” Howells said after her individual medley win.

The men’s 200m individual medley II1 saw a close finish between first, second and third place. But it was Long Tin Chan from Hong Kong (2:13:57) who took home the glory.

Australia’s Liam-Bailey Rose, who at age 14, is one of the youngest swimmers competing this year – saw an amazing start to the Games, claiming three medals.

Shock victory for Australia in basketball

By Aleasha Bliss

Emotions ran high at the Hibiscus Sports Complex as the basketball competition delivered some surprising results.

In the men’s Australia faced France in a nail-biting game that saw the hosts take out the reigning world champions with a score of 82-74.

It was neck and neck as they went into overtime before battling it out for the impressive win.

Notable mentions to Australian No.7 Zachary Georg-Dent with his triple-double of 11 assists, 11 steals and 15 points.

French no.5 Junior Ndelo Maduka also had a good double-double comprising of 18 rebounds and 18 points.

The women’s teams had a faster pace in the 3×3 format and kept the energy levels up, thrilling their supporters to the very end.

Australia Gold took out the top spot after beating Israel 21-2. The hosts have entered two teams and Gold also overcame Australia Green 17-3.

Australia Gold co-captain Katie Papworth said she was really excited about today’s win and is hopeful they will take the gold at the finals:

“The girls did really well in my team, I’m looking forward to the rest of the games ahead and hopefully bring home a gold medal at the end of the week,” she said.

The other two women’s matches had Japan defeating Australia Green 21-8 and France had the upper hand with a final score of 12-1 against Israel.

Graham opens tennis with wins for hosts

By Maddy Manwaring

It was an exciting start to the competition as tennis kicked off at the Queensland Tennis Centre with round robin matches in men’s singles II1, women’s singles II1, mixed doubles II1 and combined singles II2.

Spectators were supporting their teams from the get go. Athletes took to the courts determined to make their mark, making for a day of fast-paced, exciting matches.

Notable performances came from Australia’s Archie Graham and Carla Lenarduzzi as well as Great Britain’s Fabrice Higgins in singles II1 matches.

Australia, Great Britain and France dominated in mixed doubles II1.

World number one and the Australian team’s co-captain Archie Graham defeated France’s Sebastien Faure 6-2 in his first match of the day. He followed it up with a 6-0 win against Czech Republic’s Jakub Jerhot.

Graham ended the day with a mixed doubles II1 match with Lenarduzzi. They were awarded a walkover against Poland’s Mateusz Stusinski and Natalia Babinska.

Graham, a four-time world champion and two-time winner of Tennis Australia’s Most Outstanding Athlete with a disability, is definitely one player to watch going into medal rounds later in the week.

Great Britain’s Fabrice Higgins, seeded number 2, beat France’s Benjamin Coulier 6-2, and Czech Republic’s Josef Hus 6-0.

Lenarduzzi beat France’s Elise Delvas 6-0 and teammate Yasmin Sanders 7-6 (4) in her women’s singles II1 matches.

As for the combined singles II2 matches, Australia’s Timothy Walsh won 6-3 against Egypt’s Ibrahim Ashraf Mohamed Elkholy.

Another Australian, Timothy Gould, beat compatriot Olivia Sayers 6-1.

England Cricket win series opener

By Mitchell Kidd

Today was England’s day in the first T20 played against Australia at South Brisbane District Cricket Club in Fairfield.

England won the toss, chose to bat and made the most of the opportunity presented to them. The visitors finished their 20 overs with a score of 3/178 with Dan Bowser top scoring with 90 runs off 47 balls and was well supported by Jonathan Gale who scored 41. The pick of the Australian bowlers was Hayden Brumm with figures of 1/19 off his 4 overs.

In reply Australia struggled early and were kept to 1/7 in their first five overs with Tayler Young getting the early wicket of Gavin Hicks.

Australia fought hard their whole innings but the win was starting to look improbable when they required 152 still to win with only nine overs left.

Australia ended up finishing their allotted 20 overs with a total of 5/83 with Boyd Duffield top scoring for Australia with 36 off 59 balls. England’s Thomas Wilson took two wickets for 13 runs off two overs.

Futsal gets underway

By Makayla Bishop

Playing in the interesting setting of the centre of the Anna Meares Velodrome, teams began their Global Games campaign on Sunday.

The closest match of the day came between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia started off strong, managing a two goal lead at 4-2.

However, the Russian team fought back taking a one goal advantage with six minutes on the clock.

But it was not enough against Saudi Arabia who came back harder, striking their winning goal in the last seconds of the second half 6-5.

France kicked-off their campaign against Australia, 19-1, setting the bar high for the rest of the day at the Anna Meares Velodrome centre.

France dominated in the first half, scoring nine goals with only one reply.

France’s Jean-Francois Winsley said his team’s training had been extensive and tiresome, but it was worth it for the way they performed today.

World champions Portugal took the lead against Japan in the second match, going into half-time with a 7-0 lead.

The Japanese did manage to get one back but it was not enough to fend off the Portuguese and the game ended 10-1.

Only a few days remain until the start of the 2019 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Global Games in Brisbane, Australia, on 12 October.

The excitement is building in none more so than basketball as the hosts are expected to challenge for medals in both the men’s and women’s events.

Women’s

Hopes for the Australia Pearls are high in the women’s as the reigning world champions and defending World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games title-holders.

The team are fielding two sides – Australia Gold and Australia Green – to play in the 3v3 format.

At the last World Championships in 2017, Australia Gold left with the trophy following an all-national final against their teammates.

The Pearls also occupied an impressive eight of the 10 top scorer spots In the tournament.

Eliza Mills headlined her team’s efforts with 27 goals. Kaitlyn Papworth was third on 21. Both players return to the court and will co-captain the Australia Gold team.

Taylor Anderson and Kate Leckenby will share the responsibility for the Australia Greens.

At the last World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games in Ecuador in 2015, Japan also fielded two women’s teams.

Japan White left with silver and the country have been doing a huge amount of development work to grow their squad further in the intervening years.

A tantalising competition is therefore expected as new players look to make their mark.

Men’s

On the men’s side France, Portugal and Australia are likely to be the main protagonists as the medallists from 2017.

Australia just missed out on a place in the final following a crushing 49-79 defeat against eventual winners France. That was despite their star player Jake De La Motte finishing head and shoulders above his opponents with 111 goals across the tournament.

France overcame Portugal 66-31 in the final to grab the world title.  Australia left with a consolation bronze.

The World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games are the world’s biggest high performance sports event for athletes with intellectual impairments.

Nearly 1,000 competitors will go for gold in 10 sports in Brisbane from 12-19 October.

Results will be available at the official competition website.

The 2019 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Global Games in Brisbane, Australia, from 12-19 October will break new ground in many ways.

Ringing the changes are the world’s best cyclists who will get the opportunity to compete on the track for the first time.

Whilst their performances at the velodrome are an unknown quantity, their record on the road is clear to see.

Women’s

The women’s road events – the time trial and road race – will see a number of medallists from the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Cycling World Championships in Paris, France, compete for honours.

Chief amongst them is Great Britain’s Kiera Byland. At the tender age of 21, Byland is already a quadruple world champion having secured back-to-back titles in both disciplines since debuting in 2017.

France’s Aurelie Minodier is currently her closest rival. The Frenchwoman was the world title holder in the road race and time trial until Byland came along, Minodier still has the ability to threaten for the top of the podium.

Minodier left Paris with silver and bronze respectively and is expected to figure amongst the top finishers once again.

Russia’s Irina Nikitina is in a similar position as another podium finisher from 2018.

Men’s

Ecuador’s Erik Javier Sarango Tufino is one of the front-runners in the men’s events as the reigning road race world champion. Tufino will also be eyeing gold in the time trial as Dutch world title holder Lars de Jong will sit this edition out.

France’s Jeremy Texeira Pereira is also a medallist from Paris in the time trial. He is the 2017 champion in that and the road race.

In addition Pereira partnered with Leo Collet to take gold in the team time trial last year.

Track

On the track, six medal events will be contested for the first time at the Anna Meares Velodrome on the Sleeman Sports Complex:

Women’s Individual Pursuit 3,000m

Men’s Individual Pursuit 4,000m

Women’s 500m Time Trial

Men’s 1000m Time Trial

Men’s Sprint

Women’s Sprint

The World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games are the world’s biggest high performance sports event for athletes with intellectual impairments.

Nearly 1,000 competitors will go for gold in 10 sports in Brisbane from 12-19 October.

Results will be available at the official competition website.

Some of the world’s top table tennis players are due to go for gold at the 2019 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Global Games in Brisbane, Australia, from 12-19 October.

The Global Games are the world’s biggest high performance sports event for these athletes and the 2019 edition will also go towards qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. The event is approved by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) under their factor 20 sanctioning.

Factor 20 applies to players competing in the II1 category, known as class 11 at the Paralympics. Athletes will also compete in II2 – for athletes with a more severe impairment and II3 – for athletes with high functioning autism. The II3 competition will be demonstration events.

Men’s

In the men’s three of the world’s top five ranked players will compete.

Hungary’s Peter Palos collected silver at the 2018 ITTF Para Table Tennis World Championships and followed that up with the same colour at the Euros earlier this year. As a result he is the world No.2.

France’s Lucas Creange is the world No.3 and reigning World Intellectual Impairment Sport Table Tennis world and European champion as well as the defending Global Games gold medallist.

However Australia’s Sam Von Einem, the world No.4, is also expected to be firmly in the mix as he looks to impress on his home soil.

France’s Antoine Zhao and Hong Kong’s Wai Lok Wan are the respective silver and bronze medallists from the 2017 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Table Tennis World Championships.

Together Creange and Zhao form the winning men’s double team from two years ago and will be a formidable force in Brisbane.

But Hong Kong are notoriously strong on the table. Wan partnered with Chung Yan Leung two years ago to take silver. Ming Fai Tsoi joined Kwok Ho Wan to claim bronze.

France relied on Timothe Ivaldi and Richard Vallee to secure another medal with bronze.

In the men’s singles II2 France also reached success in 2017 when Cedric Courrillaud claimed a historic first world title in the category. Teammate Alexandre Sol joined him on the podium.

France were also the men’s team world champions ahead of Hong Kong and Czech Republic.

Women’s

The women’s is expected to feature a similarly deep field.

Hong Kong have dominated the II1 category in recent years, including at the Paralympic Games.

A friendly rivalry has emerged between teammates Mui Wui Ng and Ka Man Wong.

Wong is the Paralympic champion from London 2012 but at the Rio 2016 Paralympics was beaten by Ng for bronze.

Ng is the current world No.2 and 2017 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Table Tennis world champion. Wong finished behind her once again two years ago but is the defending Global Games title-holder.

Japan’s Kanami Furukawa is aiming to impress at her home Paralympics next year. Furukawa joins the field in Brisbane as the world No.5 and ITTF Worlds bronze medallist.

Ng and Wong claimed the World Intellectual Impairment Sport Table Tennis doubles world title last time around. They lead compatriots Hiu Tung Li and Pui Kei Wong into silver. France’s Lea Ferney and Magali Rousset took the third podium spot.

In the team event Hong Kong are the World Intellectual Impairment Sport world title holders ahead of France and Thailand.

In the II2, France dominated in 2017 as they did in the men’s.

Carole Hennion, Lucile Poquet and Celine Delalande were the top three.

The World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games are the world’s biggest high performance sports event for athletes with intellectual impairments.

Nearly 1,000 competitors will go for gold in 10 sports in Brisbane from 12-19 October.

Results will be available at the official competition website where table tennis will be shown live.

The countdown to the 2019 edition of the Global Games – the world’s biggest high performance sports event for athletes with an intellectual impairment – continues.

Swimming is one of the largest sports that fans can enjoy in Brisbane, Australia, from 12-19 October.

Events will take place at the Brisbane Aquatics Centre as athletes go for titles. Some will also continue their road to Tokyo 2020 as Paralympic champions make the journey to Australia.

In swimming, medals will be awarded in three categories for the first time. II1 athletes – also known as S14 in the Paralympics – have an intellectual impairment. II2 athletes have a more severe intellectual impairment, such as Down syndrome. II3 athletes have high functioning autism – this category is a demonstration event for the 2019 Global Games as research continues.

Men’s

Hong Kong’s Wai Lok Tang is one of the main contenders in the men’s events, including in the 200m freestyle II1 and 100m backstroke II1.

The 200m free is on the Paralympic programme and in 2015 at the last Global Games in Ecuador, Tang topped the podium around one year before winning gold at Rio 2016.

However Brazil’s Felipe Caltran Vila Real is the International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Swimming champion. He took the win at the INAS Swimming Championships in 2017 in Tang’s absence.

In the 100m backstroke, Tang finished second in 2015. France’s Nathan Maillet is the 2017 gold medallist whilst teammate Simon Blaise finished second.

Hosts Australia will try to live up to expectations in one of their national sports.

Liam Schluter is amongst the world’s top five in the men’s 200m individual medley II1 as he tries to qualify for Tokyo 2020.

Japan’s Takuya Tsugawa is building towards a home appearance of his own as the silver medallist from the 2015 Global Games. Caltran could also feature as the 2017 champion.

In the men’s 100m butterfly II1, Brazil’s Gustavo De Oliveira Nunes will go head-to-head with the rest of the podium from 2017. Japan’s Haruki Takayanagi and Shunya Murakamki left with silver and bronze two years ago.

Women’s

An equally stacked field is expected in the women’s events.

Spain’s Michelle Alonso is the women’s 100m breaststroke II1 Paralympic champion, adding to her gold from London 2012.

Those who follow the sport closely will also know to look out for Brazilian twins Debora and Beatriz Carneiro.

Most recently Debora won Parapan American Gold in Lima, Peru, whilst her sister finished with silver. Debora is also the World Intellectual Impairment Sport champion.

In the 200m freestyle II1, Australia’s Jade Lucy will power out of the blocks as the world No.8 and 2017 gold medallist. Her teammate Ruby Storm is the world No.9.

The USA’s Leslie Cichocki is also a serial medallist and, as of 2016, a Paralympian. Cichocki made history at Rio 2016 when she became the first swimmer with an intellectual impairment to compete for her country.

The American has a silver in the 200m individual medley from 2015 as well as silver in the women’s 100m butterfly and 100m backstroke from 2017.

In the backstroke, Hong Kong’s Yu Lam Chan will challenge Cichocki as the world No.5.

The World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games are the world’s biggest high performance sports event for athletes with intellectual impairments.

Nearly 1,000 competitors will go for gold in 10 sports in Brisbane from 12-19 October.