The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) and the International Paralympic Committee today announced that Iran have pulled out of competition “due to their dissatisfaction with the draw proposed for the cross-over round and subsequent schedule”.

There is conjecture that this in in reference to the possibility of Iran playing Israel if they got through to the next round.

Iran was due to play the USA today.

In a statement the IWBF said it “regrets this decision taken by Iran and the disruption caused to the tournament”.

The move means the US teams goes through to the semi-finals. The ABC has been unable to contact the Iranian team.

The spokeswoman for the United States Paralymic team Jeannine Hansen would not be drawn on whether the Iranian team was making a political statement.

“The team is focused on playing and looking forward to Canada,” she said.

“But beyond that I’m not going to comment. Iran really needs to speak for their reasons for withdrawing.”

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source: abc.net.au

source: tehrantimes.com

Paralympics

China is following its successful hosting of the Olympics with a lower-key opening ceremony for the Paralympics, an international sporting event for handicapped athletes, that runs until September 17. Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing.

Chinese President Hu Jintao officially declared that the Paralympic games had begun.
The opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics involved a lavish and elaborate performance that presented thousands of years of Chinese history.
In contrast, the opening ceremony for the Paralympics was mostly about the athletes.
Four thousand physically-disabled athletes from around the world entered the Bird’s Nest stadium, either on foot or in a wheelchair.
Chinese women in bright pink frilly dresses led each of the 146 national delegations. Groups of young Chinese dancers, dressed in blue shorts and white baseball caps, danced to the music and waved red flags.
The president of the International Paralympic Committee, Philip Craven, praised these games as a Paralympic milestone.
“These games will have more athletes, more competing nations and more sporting events than ever before,” he said.
Earlier in the day, President Hu hosted visiting dignitaries for lunch in the Great Hall of the People.
President Hu says the Beijing Paralympic games are an opportunity for China to further promote a humanitarian spirit and safeguard the rights of disabled people.
One notable name on the guest list was Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who shook hands and posed for pictures with the Chinese president.
In Beijing Saturday, residents watched the Paralympic torch make its way through the city to the stadium.
Chinese state television showed excited spectators waving flags and cheering for the torch.
One spectator told CCTV that just as the Olympics have improved China’s position in the world, he is hopeful the Paralympics will enhance China’s position as a powerful sports country too.
There are 20 sports under competition during the Summer Paralympics. These include swimming, sailing and judo, as well as things like wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis and wheelchair rugby.
The first day of competition is Sunday, and athletes will use many of the same venues that were featured in the Olympics.

source: voanews.com

Mauro Sarmiento from Italy won the silver medal. Steven Lopez from the United States won a bronze medal together with Guo Zhu from China.

Vasyl Fedoryshyn from Ukraine won the silver medal. Kenichi Yumoto from Japan and Seyedmorad Mohammadi from Iran won bronze medals in the event.

The new favorite for the title is 33 year old Viktors Scerbatihs from Latvia.

“Even though the (Iranian) dropped out, there are still a number of strong guys. The competition will be no less difficult,” said Nikolai Parkhomenko, president of the Russian weightlifting federation.

Rezazadeh was replaced by 24-year-old Rashid Sharifi who won the Asian championship this year.

“We lost a great star, that’s true, but now we try to find some new faces,” said Dobor Dezso, a spokesman for the International Weightlifting Federation.

Other contenders include Matthias Steiner (Germany), Evgeny Chigishev (Russia), Jaber Saeed Salem (Qatar) and Artem Udachyn (Ukraine).

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