The first regional championship in a board game for the visually impaired has started in Vitebsk
In the Vitebsk unitary enterprise "Elect" a regional championship in showdown is taking place – a table game for the blind, which combines elements of table tennis and air hockey, as reported to a BELTA correspondent by the head of the enterprise's rehabilitation department, Alexander Dubko.
At the end of 2014, the enterprise, where 51% of the employees are visually impaired or blind, received sports equipment for playing showdown as a gift from the "BelTIZ" society. "The central board made such a New Year's surprise for each region so that this sport could actively develop throughout Belarus. In fact, for the game, you only need a table, wooden elongated paddle-bats, and a glove similar to a hockey glove, as well as a ping-pong ball with metal balls inside, which create a rattle effect. This way, players can "see" the direction of its movement. And they need to direct this ball into the pocket on the opponent's side. And to ensure equal conditions, both players wear a special blindfold," explained Alexander Dubko, the essence of the showdown game.
Currently, the enterprise's employees are actively practicing their game skills in their free time under the guidance of coach-methodologist Oleg Kirillov, also known as the head coach of the Belarusian national mini-football team for the totally blind. After familiarizing themselves with all the nuances of the rules, they began forming the tournament table for the competitions, which will last for about two months. Not only employees of the enterprise in Vitebsk will participate, but also its branches from Polotsk and Orsha. So, the tournament can be considered regional. Based on the rating system, the two best players will be determined, who will take part in the republican sports event of the "BelTIZ" public association, scheduled for August 2015.
The year the new game was created is considered to be 1960, when Canadians Joe Lewis and Patrick York invented a sport that visually impaired people could play independently, without the help of sighted friends. They wrote down the rules of the game and developed the necessary equipment. The first international success of showdown was its debut as a recreational sport during the 1980 Paralympic Games in Arnhem, Netherlands. Since then, showdown has been played for entertainment at every Games. Currently, showdown is practiced in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America. The sport is managed by the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) subcommittee for showdown. The subcommittee supports the organization of tournaments at regional and national levels with the aim of organizing world championships and Paralympic Games tournaments in the future.
Ekaterina Knyazeva