Wang Yi of China lost to Gabriel Shelly of Ireland 6-2 in the boccia bronze medal match of the Mixed Individual BC1, but he said he was happy with clinching a fourth place at Paralympics.
Shelly, gold medalist in Sydney, looked more determined and experienced in the match as he had a solid start against Wang 4-0 in the first end. After losing two more points in the next two ends, the world No. 37 Wang fought back to throw two points in the last end, but it was too late to turn the beam.
It is the best result ever achieved by a Chinese boccia athlete in the BC1 category at Paralympics.
"I did my best today, so I don't regret anything at all. The Ireland team is really strong, and I lack their experiences." Wang said.
"I am happy with the result, and I hope I can improve my skills and strength in the future," he added.
As a Chinese chess master in Beijing, Wang turned his interest to boccia four years ago and he found the wisdom of Chinese chess can give him some help in boccia.
"Boccia is like Chinese chess. You need to think through the game, and you need to take the next throw into consideration. Every throw can be predicted beforehand," Wang said.
"While I'm nervous, I always think about Chinese chess to calm myself down. It helps my ability to fight. Chinese chess helps me control the rhythm of my play."
Chinese boccia team was founded in 2006 and Wang's coach Tian Jia'nan told Xinhua that they need more competition experience to improve their abilities in this sport.
(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2008)