Winners of Bocce tournament named

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

The first “SENI CUP” Bocce tournament among paralympians was held at ABU Arena Sport complex in Baku on December 6.

The event was co-organized by Azerbaijan National Paralympic Committee (ANPC) and the "Support the disabled athletes” Public Association.

President of ANPC Ilgar Rahimov as well as his Brazilian counterpart Andrew Parsons and sport officials, representatives of international federations and paralympic committees attended the competition.

More than 20 paralympians from Baku, and Azerbaijani regions Sheki and Agsu took part in the tournament.

The winner of BC1/BC2 category became Intigam Safarov, while in BC4 category Chimnaz Abdullayeva took the first place. The winners were awarded with cups, medals and diploma.

Bocce is a ball sport belonging to the Boules sport family, closely related to bowls with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire.

Bocce is traditionally played on natural soil and asphalt courts 27.5 metres (90 ft) in length and 2.5 to 4 metres (8.2 to 13.1 ft) wide. Bocce balls can be made of metal or various kinds of plastic.

The game is held between two players, or two teams of two, three, or four. A match is started by a randomly chosen side being given the opportunity to throw a smaller ball, the jack (called a boccino or pallino in some areas), from one end of the court into a zone 5 metres (16 ft) in length, ending 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) from the far end of the court. If the first team misses twice, the other team is awarded the opportunity to place the jack anywhere they choose within the prescribed zone.

The side that first attempted to place the jack is given the opportunity to bowl first. Once the first bowl has taken place, the other side has the opportunity to bowl. From then on, the side which does not have the ball closest to the jack has a chance to bowl, up until one side or the other has used their four balls. At that point, the other side bowls its remaining balls. The team with the closest ball to the jack is the only team that can score points in any frame. The scoring team receives one point for each of their balls that is closer to the jack than the closest ball of the other team.

Players are permitted to throw the ball in the air using an underarm action. This is generally used to knock either the jack or another ball away to attain a more favorable position. Tactics can get quite complex when players have sufficient control over the ball to throw or roll it accurately.