Mario Sayes, a member of the Effort and Glory Program, got his first medal in a Boccia World Cup, today by defeating the Israeli Nadav Levi 6-2 in the duel for third place in the BC2 sports class of the competition that took place in Montreal, Canada.
The national player made one of his best presentations despite having lost 0-9 against Félix Yudha, from Indonesia, in his start to the competition. In the second match, the man from the capital beat Dubier Paredes, from Mexico, 3-1, a victory that advanced him to the phase.
With that result, Sayes reached the semifinals where he lost by a tight score of 3-4 against the Japanese Hidetaka Sugimura. Even though he was sidelined from the fight for gold, Mario still had a chance to be on the podium and he achieved it by beating Levi in the battle for bronze.
Obtaining the medal for the parathlete has been a reward for the sacrifice and effort he had to make in the last year and that now opens up a huge possibility for him to get the dreamed ticket to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
“I feel super happy and satisfied with the work I have done. A year ago I was not at my best for a lot of factors, but winning and taking the podium makes all the sacrifices absolutely worth it. With this result I will improve my position in the ranking, I was in 23rd place and possibly rise to 14 or 16, it depends on the rest of the rivals,” said Sayes.
It is relevant to remember that at the Santiago 2024 Parapan American Games, Sayes lost the duel for third place, so for the national team this medal is vindication.
“In Santiago I was nowhere near the medal, but now the goal could be achieved even though the difficulty was much greater. On a personal level this opens a door to a new world of possibilities for me. “I am going to continue fighting for my sporting goals,” said Sayes.
For her part, Rebeca Duarte, who took fourth place in this edition of the World Cup, stated that the defeat against Hoi Ying Karen Kwok, from Hong Kong, inspires her to improve and work on mistakes, taking into account who had a perfect first phase by winning all three games in the group stage.
In the first matches, Duarte beat the Japanese Fumiko Ebisawa 8-1; Then, she beat the Portuguese Cristina Gonçalves 7-1 and sealed her place in the semifinals by beating the Mexican Karina Martínez 11-0.
“What happened was challenging and necessary, I am capable of reaching a final and this time it is nothing more than a wake-up call that I must obey. Being among the best four is significant, the really positive thing is demonstrating great progress by defeating my rival from America and continuing to position itself as number one on the continent while improving the world ranking,” said Duarte.
Duarte indicated that having reached the penultimate phase of the competition maintains it as one of the best in America.
“It is worth acknowledging the failure in the semifinal, considering that I gave everything as the leader of my group. It came with hard work and I think it was necessary to demonstrate it in my last two games. The cup is coming up in Brazil, which will help me with my preparation towards Paris 2024, and before that I also have a Challenger in Egypt,” Rebeca explained.
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