PARALYMPICS:EXCEPT FOR occasional shouts of support for the players, and rapturous applause when a Paralympian bowls the ball to within a whisker of the jack, the Olympic Fencing Centre in Beijing is quiet. This is boccia, and the excitement is something else.
Boccia is a strategic game of skill, a Paralympic sport that looks a little like French boules but has no equivalent in the Olympics. The aim is to bowl or throw a set of coloured balls and position them closer to a white marker ball, the jack, than those of your opponent. The sport is exciting, and dates back to the ancient Greeks. The speed at which the game can be turned around, how a comfortable lead can be eroded in the blink of an eye, can be the stuff of Greek tragedy.
The Fencing Centre is well attended, as have all the Paralympic events been so far, and the Irish tricolour is draped at the side of the games area, which is divided into courts.
For the Irish in the audience, it's a day of mixed emotions: two of Ireland's top players, Gabriel Shelly and Pádraic Moran, are playing quarter-finals in neighbouring courts.
Shelly is facing Spain's Jose Vaquerizo - Portugal and Spain dominate the sport - while Moran is up against local favourite Wang Yi.
In the end, Shelly prevails comfortably, while Moran is cruelly denied in a tie-break.
Shelly (39), from Bagenalstown, who took gold in Sydney in 2000, has hit a rich vein of form and dominated the game, winning easily at 8-2 to secure a semi-final berth.
"I didn't expect that much, but I was very focused and played really well. I'm very pleased overall," said Shelly, who won't be drawn on his prospects in the next round. "One game at a time."
Derived from the Latin for ball and played in more than 50 countries, boccia is played by individuals, pairs or teams of three.
Depending on the level of disability, the balls can be moved with the hands or the feet or, in the case of severe disability, with a ramp.
At the end of each round, or end, the referee measures the distance of the balls closest to the jack and awards points.
Team Ireland sports psychologist Alan Ringland said so much of boccia is about mental toughness.
"It has a lot to do with staying focused and being resilient. You can get the best ball and then you get knocked off - you have to be disciplined and structured," said Ringland.
The level of skills that Paralympic boccia players have when propelling the ball toward the jack is phenomenal, with some players using their feet with incredible dexterity, or manoeuvring a ball into place on a ramp with head movements.
Ireland's other boccia stars, Tom Leahy and Roberta Connolly, failed to progress. The game has been developing at a great rate in Ireland, but more needs to be done to encourage new players into the sport, said Ringland.
As a sports journalist himself, Moran is well aware of fortune's slings and arrows, but his defeat in the quarter-finals was rough. It came down to just a hair's breadth.
"I couldn't have done anymore in that game and I've never played better. The crowds have been brilliant and this is a great showcase for boccia.
" I'll be back," said Moran, who was competing in his first Paralympics and is now focusing on qualifying for London in 2012.
His opponent Wang joined the Chinese team in 2006, but before that he was a Chinese chess champion, winning the Beijing chess championships in 2001 and becoming the first person with cerebral palsy to beat able-bodied people in the game.
"There are some similarities between boccia and Chinese chess. If you want to play good boccia, you also must be strong in mental status," Wang said.
Irish in action in Beijing
Yesterday's Results
Eilish Byrne (Equestrian, Championship Grade II) - 11th overall.
Gabriel Shelly (Boccia, BC1 v T Kitani, Japan) won 5-2; (v J Park, Korea) lost 5-3;
(Q-F v J Vaquerizo, Spain) won 8-2.
Pádraic Moran (Boccia, BC1 v L Sanders, N Zealand) won 7-3; (v R Aandalen, Norway) won 4-2; (Q-F v Wang Yi, China) lost 6-5 Cathal Miller (Cycling, 4km Ind. Pursuit Qualification LC1) fifth in PB and Irish record 4:53.969.
Tom Leahy (Boccia, BC2 v F Ferreira, Portugal) Won 5-2.
Roberta Connolly (Boccia, BC2 v P Cortez, Argentina) lost 4-1.
Eimear Breathnach (Table Tennis, F1-2 v P Pezzuto, Italy) lost 3-1.
Amy Kelehan John Twomey (Sailing, Scud18) ninth race 1st, 10th race 2nd.
Paul McCarthy, Paul Ryan Richard Whealey (Sailing, Sonar) seventh race 1st, 10th race 2nd.
Ireland Football Team (7-a-side v Iran) lost 4-2.
Michael Delaney and David Peelo (Cycling, 1Km TT Final BVI, 1-3) 10th in PB and Irish record of 1:08.593.
Kathleen Reynolds (Table Tennis, Singles F3 v Q Li, China) lost 3-1.
Garrett Culliton (Athletics, Discus F33/34/52) fifth in final, PB and Irish record 17.79 metres.
Eoin Cleare (Athletics, Shot Putt F32) seventh in final, 6.11 metres.
Schedule for Today (All times Irish)
Gabriel Shelly (Boccia, S-F) 2am
(bronze medal match, 4.15am) (gold medal match, 7am).
Jonathan Cummings (Swimming, 100m backstroke Heat S6) 2.06am. (Final, 10.07am).
Stephen Campbell (Swimming, 100m butterfly Heats S11) 2.33am. (Final, 10.44am).
Catherine Walsh Joanna Hickey (Cycling, Ind. Pursuit Qualification BVI) 3.40am. (Final 9.50am).
Ellen Keane (Swimming, 100m breaststroke Heats SB8) 3.41am. (Final, 1.11pm).
Seán Heary (Archery, Ind. Compound Open Ranking Round) 3am-5.30am.
Enda Smyth (Cycling, 1km TT Final CP4) 4.55am.
Amy Kelehan John Twomey (Sailing, Scud18) 6am, 7.30am 9am.
Paul McCarthy, Paul Ryan Richard Whealey (Sailing, Sonar) 6am, 7.30am 9am.
Cathal Miller (Cycling, 1km TT Final LC1) 7am.
Kathleen Reynolds (Table Tennis, Singles F3) 9am. (Round 2 Round 3, 10.20am).
Patrice Dockery (Athletics, 400m T53) 12.16pm.
