Paris 2024 Paralympics: Karabo Morapedi has a ball on boccia debut

Halfway through the opening men’s Pool A boccia competition at the South Paris Arena on Thursday, a couple of Australians started to shuffle slightly nervously in their chairs.

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It had been a tight contest up to that point and while neither Daniel Michel nor Karabo Morapedi would be exiting the Paris 2024 Paralympics regardless of the final result, the scoreboard was pointing to an upset.

It read 2-1 in Morapedi’s favour after two of the four ends.

Their closest ball to the jack had been impossible to separate in terms of centimetres and they’d shared the first end 1-1.

The Team SA athlete then took the lead. 

Reigning world boccia champion

Could we be witnessing a seismic upset in the land of the BC3 category boccia men?

All competitors in this class are severely compromised physically and with ramp operator Matobako Ramochela playing his role expertly, Morapedi was looking good and enjoying the occasion – which he did right to the end.

However, in the third end Michel, the reigning world champion and bronze medallist from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, began to use his experience and pile on the pressure.

“I couldn’t have done any better,” Morapedi said of the first two ends.

“That guy is a very good player and he made some very good decisions.”

The Australian protected the jack in a decisive third end which he picked up four points to move into a 5-2 advantage with one end to play.

That meant the Team SA player would need three (out of six) balls to be closer than Michel’s to force a playoff.

The fact that Michel picked up five shots on the final end to close out a 10-2 victory can to some degree be put down to the fact that Morapedi had to “go for it”.

There was no point in him trying to score one, or even two, points because he would still have lost.

In being more aggressive, he allowed Michel to suffocate the jack and ultimately go on to his first win in Pool A.

Gary Lemke is reporting live from Paris for the Team SA website for the duration of the Paris Olympics 2024