Hwaseong Special City Successfully Hosts 3rd National Boccia Championship Uniting People with and without Disabilities

Hwaseong Special City (Mayor Jung Myung-geun) successfully held the '3rd Hwaseong Special City Mayor's Cup National Boccia Championship' on the 20th at the gymnasium on the second floor of Hwaseong Bandabi Sports Center.

Hosted by the Hwaseong City Sports Association for the Disabled and organized by the Hwaseong City Boccia Federation for the Disabled, the tournament drew approximately 200 participants including athletes, officials, and guardians from across the country, who competed and strengthened their bonds.

Boccia is an official Paralympic sport in which athletes throw or roll balls to get them as close as possible to a target ball. The competition is decided by summing the scores of balls closest to the target ball.

The tournament was divided into a team event called Eoul-lim Trio (an integrated team of people with and without disabilities) and BC3 individual competition. Particularly in the Eoul-lim Trio matches, where one non-disabled person can compete together, athletes encouraged each other and coordinated their efforts beyond disability, gender, and age, adding deeper meaning to inclusive sports.

Cho Seung-moon, Deputy Mayor of Hwaseong Special City, who visited the tournament venue, stated, "I hope this tournament becomes a gathering of harmony where participants go beyond winning and losing, coordinate with each other, encourage one another, and share the joy of sports together." He added, "We will carefully develop a community sports environment so that people with and without disabilities can naturally work together through sports and have greater opportunities to understand one another."