Teams from eight countries have arrived in Sweden for the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Football World Championships which get underway on Sunday (5 August).

Defending champions Saudi Arabia, hosts Sweden, France, Germany, Argentina, Poland, Japan and Russia will compete for a place in the final on 18 August.

The World Championships will be hosted in stadiums across four towns – Tingvalla IP and Örsholmens IP in Karlstad; Sannavallen in Kristinehamn; Solviksvallen in Arvika and the Sannerudsvallen in Kil.

Games will be shown live at the World Intellectual Impairment Sport YouTube channel. Information about groups, the schedule and results are available at https://iwfc.se/.

Photographs will be available on request from lucy.dominy@inas.org.

Sweden will get their campaign underway in the opening match at the Tingvalla IP against Germany at 3pm (CEST) on Sunday. Midfielder Anders Jansson is excited about competing in his home town.

“It will be very inspiring to play at home in Karlstad. It is hoped that there will be a lot of people and that in Sweden we will show how we can organise ourselves well.

“[I want] to show up at home to prove to those who never believed in me and underestimated me when I was a teenager when I felt like an outsider. Playing in the national team and doing it at home will be amazing.”

Saudi Arabia return to the pitch in the hope of retaining their title from 2014 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. They have been the world champions since 2006 – a win in Sweden would be their fourth consecutive victory.

Captain Abdallah Aldosari said:

“At the World Championships in Germany in 2006 we did not expect to become world champions at the time, but we had trained a lot. Our readiness began two years before the tournament but we were afraid of the Dutch team and their strength as well as Poland,” Aldosari said.

“After this tournament [2006] we knew what we wanted and how to maintain the title in 2010. We are very prepared to maintain the title and have been able to achieve this already, as we did in the World Championships in Brazil in 2014. That is because of good preparation and regular training through our clubs which we strive to maintain. We strive and train and we have the determination.”

Aldosari believes Saudi Arabia’s biggest competitors will be Poland and Sweden.

Poland are the European champions having beaten France at home in 2016. Sweden also finished third in that competition.

About the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Football World Championships

Teams will play in two groups of four ahead of the semi-finals on 16 August and final on 18 August.

Group A features Sweden, France, Germany and Argentina. Saudi Arabia, Poland, Japan and Russia are in group B. All teams in group A will be awarded a 3-0 scoreline for fixtures against South Africa after their late withdrawal.

By Tokyo 2020

The mascots of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 greeted the Japanese public for the first time at their naming ceremony on Sunday (22 July). Thousands of children and adults joined meet and greet events across the Japanese capital to welcome the new ambassadors of the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Check-out the Tokyo 2020 mascot introduction video.

Origin of their names

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic mascot’s name was revealed as Someity, (pronounced soh-may-tee) which comes from someiyoshino, a popular cherry blossom variety, and additionally echoes the English phrase “so mighty”. Someity has tactile cherry blossom sensors and exhibits enormous mental and physical strength. It represents Paralympic athletes who overcome obstacles and redefine the boundaries of what is possible.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic mascot’s name was revealed as Miraitowa (pronounced mee-rah-e-toh-wa), based on the Japanese words mirai (future) and towa (eternity) combined. This name was chosen to promote a future full of eternal hope in the hearts of people all over the world.

Check their profiles

Someity is a cool character with cherry blossom tactile sensors and super powers. It can send and receive messages telepathically using the cherry blossom antennae on both sides of its face. It can also fly using its ichimatsu-pattern cloak. It is usually quiet, but it can exhibit great power when necessary. It embodies Paralympic athletes that demonstrate superhuman power. Someity has a dignified inner strength and it also loves nature. It can talk to stones and wind by using its super power, and is also able to move things by just looking at them.

Miraitowa has the same indigo blue ichimatsu-patterns as the Tokyo 2020 Games Emblem on its head and body. The mascot’s personality is derived from a traditional Japanese proverb that means to learn old things well and to acquire new knowledge from them. The mascot has both an old-fashioned aspect that respects tradition and an innovative aspect that is in tune with cutting-edge information . It has a strong sense of justice, and is very athletic. The mascot has the special ability to move anywhere instantly.

The duo finally made their debut on Sunday and are already anticipating a busy schedule ahead.

Between December 2017 and February 2018, more than 75 per cent of the elementary schools in Japan and a number of overseas Japanese schools took part in a selection process and voted for their favourite set of mascot designs.

Miraitowa and Someity live in the digital world, and can move freely between there and the real world via the internet.

Great Britain’s Dominic Iannotti and 14-year-old Anna McBride stormed to the mixed doubles title with a straight sets victory at the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Tennis World Championships in Paris, France, on Friday (20 July).

Iannotti and McBride claimed a straight sets victory (6-0, 6-0) over Australia’s Mitchell James and Carla Lenarduzzi on an overcast day which included some rain on the clay courts.

Showing some great plays for her young age, McBride proved too much to handle in her first major international final.

“I thought it went really well, it was very close and it was quite good. It was a good experience to be in a final and play for GB [Great Britain],” she said.

Iannotti commented: “I know the scoreline doesn’t seem it but it was a close match. I really enjoyed being part of the final, win or lose. Thanks to everyone that watched – all of the support has been fantastic.”

Iannotti will also play for the men’s doubles title with Fabrice Higgins on Saturday (20 July) after their semi-final win over Australia’s Joshua Holloway and Mitchell James today. They will face Australians Archie Graham and Damien Phillips.

“For my double finals, I will keep the momentum going, keep trying to work together as a team,” Iannotti said. “We’ve played Archie and Damien before last year in the final in Bolton [2017 World Championships] so we know how they play, how we can be stronger and try and beat them. Again it’ll be a very close match tomorrow, conditions will play a big part. Like today I’m really looking forward to it.”

Men’s singles finals decided

Australia’s world No.1 Graham will take on Great Britain’s Fabrice Higgins in the men’s singles final on Saturday.

Graham took on fellow countryman James in the semi-final and beat him 2-0 (4-0, 4-0).

Graham said: “I thought it was really cool. Having played Mitch [Mitchell James] so many time times I know his game inside out, I just used my tactics. We always have a great game, me and Mitch, we always push each other and it brings out the best in us.

Of his tie for gold with Higgins, Graham continued: “It’s going to be a tough one. That’ll be our fourth meeting and it’s going to be another tough one tomorrow and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Higgins played Czech Republic’s Ondrej Sedlisky, the world No.2, in a close game to advance to the final against Graham.

The British player lost the first set 4-0 but came back to level the score in the second in a 5-4 thriller. He then won the tie break.

Higgins said: “It was a really strange match. I didn’t play my best tennis but it was one of those matches where I still found a way to win. I lost the first set and then I won two tie breaks back-to-back so I just kind of ground it out and had to change my game style. Hopefully I can improve from this match and do a better performance in the final.

“I believe in my ability, so even though I lost it I knew I could still win it. And even If I was four or 3-0 down I still knew I could win it. I just needed to change a few things, I just play my own game, improve on my game which I managed to do.”

Results from the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Cycling and Tennis World Championships are available here. High resolution pictures can be downloaded here.

As well as cycling and tennis, athletics, basketball, cycling, hockey, table tennis, swimming and petanque are all being contested until 22 July. The 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport European Summer Games are organised by World Intellectual Impairment Sport Europe.

Ecuador’s Erik Javier Sarango Tufino emerged triumphant from a gritty men’s road race at the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Cycling World Championships in Paris, France, on Tuesday (17 July).

Having picked up silver in the time trial 24 hours before, Sarango Tufino (01:59:22) faced down Belgium’s defending champion Lars de Jong for gold.

A highly tactical race saw the peloton stick together for most of the 60km course. However with a few laps to go, the Ecuadorian and de Jong made their move off the front.

They spent the final stages swapping positions and there was little to separate the pair, even going into the final lap.

The crowds were treated to a blistering race to the line before Sanrago Tufino finally put just a few metres between him and de Jong to take his first world title and leave the Belgian with silver.

“It feels really good. I am really happy. This is for my family, my coach, my friends in Ecuador, for the country,” Sarango Tufino said, going on to describe the race as “really hard”.

There was also a close fight for the final podium spot. The Netherlands Joannathan Duinkerke gave everything he had to beat France’s 2016 world champion Jeremy Texeira Pereira to the bronze.

In the women’s Great Britain’s defending champion Kiera Byland added the road race gold to her time trial world title from Monday.

It was another close race right until the final two laps. Byland described how she won her second gold in two days with a technique normally used in track cycling – rushing a gap:

“One plan was for me to attack on the last lap, but I thought that would be too predictable as that’s what I did last time [at the 2017 World Championships].

“The second plan was that with two laps to go, there’s a bit of incline, so I decided to attack there because I knew that’s where riders don’t really like it, they tend to slow down a lot. So if I can attack there, then they won’t be expecting it

“I tried that technique [rushing a gap] and then when I was ahead, I looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was behind me at that point and then I carried on and I time-trialled it like I did yesterday. It was really, really difficult. Each rider was doing different techniques so you had to concentrate and be aware of what other riders around you were doing.”

Of winning her second gold, Byland continued:

“I’m really excited to be able to do that. I knew it was going to be challenging because we’ve got some really strong riders here that we always use different techniques to see if we can try and win with it. So it’s really exciting for me.”

Russia’s Irina Nikitina claimed silver and France’s Aurelie Minodier took bronze.

Cyclists will now have a day off before closing competition on Thursday (19 July) with the team time trial.

2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Tennis World Championships

Paris is also playing host to the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Tennis World Championships. Round robin matches for the singles and doubles continued on Tuesday.

The world no.1 pairing of Fabrice Higgins and Dominic Iannotti of Great Britain took on the Czech Republic’s Josef Hus and Jakub Jerhot in the men’s doubles, winning 6-0.

The top women’s seeds were also in action – Australia’s Carla Lenarduzzi and Kelly Wren beat France’s Elise Delvas and Nina Mathis 6-1.

Wren partnered with men’s double’s world champion Archie Graham in the mixed doubles, dispatching Poland’s Oskar Kosecki and Kamila Grzebinska 6-0.

Graham and Wren went onto triumph over French duo Benjamin Coulier and Delvas 6-3 to secure a place in the semi-final.

They will now face Ianotti and partner Anna McBride for a place in the final. Australia’s Mitchell James and Lenarduzzi will play Belgium’s women’s singles world champion Hanne Lavreyson and Jochen Fens.

Lavreyson and Graham also won their respective women’s and men’s singles matches on Tuesday.

Results from the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Cycling and Tennis World Championships are available here. High resolution pictures can be downloaded here.

As well as cycling and tennis, athletics, basketball, cycling, hockey, table tennis, swimming and petanque are all being contested until 22 July. The 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport European Summer Games are organised by World Intellectual Impairment Sport Europe.