Paris Paralympics 2024: Australia's Daniel Michel, Jamieson ...
PARIS: Australia's Daniel Michel and Jamieson Leeson both won individual silver in boccia at the Paralympic Games on Tuesday (AEST) — and the latter's achievement was historic.
Michel won bronze at the Tokyo Games and went one medal better in a clash with South Korea's Jeong Ho-won, who grabbed gold with a 5-2 victory.
Just before Michel took to the court, Leeson had secured silver in a match against Hong Kong's Ho Yuen-kei, who took gold with a 4-2 triumph.
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Leeson became the first Australian female to win a Paralympic boccia medal.
"Being the first female in the sport to bring home a medal for Australia not only means a lot to me but means a lot for the sport in general, and it just shows the progression that's been made within Australia, as in the boccia team, but also within the whole Paralympic committee," said the 21-year-old, who hails from the country NSW town of Dunedoo.
"To have more female inclusion and the development of the female classification between Tokyo [2020] and now ... has been mind-blowing."
Jamieson Leeson collecting silver. Getty Images
At 4.10am on Wednesday, Michel and Leeson will begin their Paris doubles campaign, taking on Japanese pair Ayane Ichinoe and Masayuki Arita
Michel said he was "stoked" to claim individual silver.
"Me playing against Ho-won in the final is a dream scenario," said the 29-year-old from Cronulla.
"He's the best to ever do it, I love playing against him, we see the game in a very similar way, so it's always a super-fun match, and he makes you play some really hard shots.
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"I stepped up to the plate tonight but I just didn't quite have the execution I needed to win that match.
"Hats off to him."
Michel and Leeson both have spinal muscular atrophy, which is a genetic neuromuscular disorder that causes weakness, wasting and movement problems.
Of the 22 Paralympic sports, boccia and goalball are the only ones that do not have an Olympic counterpart.
Daniel Michel in action. Getty Images
Boccia is a sport packed with skill and tactics that requires competitors to place leather balls, either red or blue, as close as possible to a white ball, known as a "jack".
Balls can be thrown or kicked, or competitors can use an assistive device such as a ramp or a mouth piece.
The sport has shades of lawn balls, snooker and chess.
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