Women’s Team USA Goalball Team Brings Home Silver in front of Full House at Turnstone
Women’s Team USA Goalball Team Brings Home Silver in front of Full House at Turnstone
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (July 9, 2019) – Lithuanian men and Chinese women took home gold at the 2019 International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Goalball and Judo International Qualifier in Fort Wayne, IN, USA on July 9, 2019. Turkey and the People’s Republic of China took home silver and bronze respectively in the men’s tournament, with Team USA and Israel taking home the silver and bronze respectively in the women’s tournament.
With the largest crowd of the tournament filling the Plassman Athletic Center at Fieldhouse, 2016 Paralympic Bronze Medalist Team USA fell to the 2016 Paralympic Silver Medalist People’s Republic of China with a final score of 5-3. Lithuania bested Turkey with a final score of 7-3.
“I thought our team played a really great tournament. We followed our game plan defensively and we accomplished one of our main goals, and that was to qualify for Tokyo next year,” said Lisa Czechowski, USA women’s goalball team member. “We’re really proud of our performance and so grateful for all the support we received from Turnstone and the community of Fort Wayne who have just made the environment so positive and the energy in the room was just awesome.”
The 2019 IBSA Goalball and Judo International Qualifier featured 13 women’s and 14 men’s goalball teams. The gold and silver medalists from the men’s and women’s competitions punched their tickets to Tokyo 2020. At the close of the Fort Wayne competition, the men’s Lithuania and Turkey teams, and the women’s USA and People’s Republic of China teams now have their sights set on the Paralympic Games scheduled for August 2020.
Team USA also claimed the first-ever mixed team silver medal earlier in the event at the IBSA Judo International Qualifier on Friday (July 5). Teams from eight countries competed in the historic debut of the mixed-team event, including Paralympic, world and regional medalists in their line-ups. Ukraine bested USA for the gold medal. Brazil claimed Bronze 1 and China took home the second Bronze.
In the men’s and women’s individual judo competition held at the Grand Wayne Center July 3-4, 180 international judoka fought for individual world ranking points towards qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Live stream coverage was featured of the full competition online at www.ibsafortwayne2019.com and the below channels thanks to funding provided by AWS Foundation. Competition footage will remain available on IBSA and USABA YouTube channels.
- Event website www.ibsafortwayne2019.com
- IBSA Goalball Facebook page www.facebook.com/ibsagoalball
- International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) YouTube channel
- IBSA website
- United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) YouTube channel
- USABA Facebook page
The 2019 IBSA Goalball and Judo International Qualifier featured some of the world’s best athletes with visual impairments as they sought qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Events were held at Turnstone Center, Indiana Tech and the Grand Wayne Center. Over 40 countries were represented by nearly 600 athletes, coaches and delegation staff in addition to the international delegates who participated in IBSA’s General Assembly also held in Fort Wayne in conjunction with the competition.
This year’s competition is made possible thanks to generous sponsors including: the Plassman Family, United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, AWS Foundation, Fuji Mats, Visit Indiana, Sports Corp Indiana, Ash Brokerage, BOSMA, Visit Fort Wayne and the City of Fort Wayne.
For more information on the 2019 IBSA Goalball and Judo International Qualifier, please visit www.IBSAFortWayne2019.com.