The DeaflympicsGB Team have all arrived!

We’re excited that the whole team is now in Japan following the safe arrival of our swimmers. Whilst the swimmers got themselves acclimatised we saw action from cycling, tennis and women’s football.

Cycling

Waldo Moolman had a positive start in the men’s cycling sprint, where he made it through to the elimination stage. In the end Waldo finished a very respectable 16th out of 42 riders, having faced the eventual Gold Medallist from the USA in the elimination rounds. Talking to Team Manager and UK Deaf Sport Chair, Nick Brookes, he said it was a great performance from Waldo who should be proud of his efforts and sets a positive tone for the next few days for cycling, where Oliver Pritchard will be racing later tomorrow in the points race.

Tennis

It was a strong start from Esah Hayat and Lewis Fletcher in the men’s doubles, taking on the Australian pair and winning 6-0, 6-1.

Unfortunately Peter Willcox and Charlie Denton were unable to follow suit, losing to a strong pair from Chinese Taipei. Tomorrow, we will be back to singles with Esah and Pete competing in the second round and Charlie playing in the consolation singles.

Women’s Football

The Women’s Football Team faced a difficult day, losing to Japan 6-0. Coach Mark Gill admitted that that our team didn’t turn up to the same level as Japan but stressed it was not over yet! This call was backed by Emma Brown who admitted that, although it was a tough one to take, Japan deserved credit for the way they played the game. Although the next match against the USA will be tough the team are keeping their heads up and remaining focused. 

What’s next…

Tomorrow, we see action in golf, football, cycling, athletics and tennis. Withthe Men’s Football team taking on Iran. All being well we will see a repeat of Melbourne 2005 with a win to take us to the next stage of the competition.

Follow all the action and keep up with medals tables and results on the DeaflympicsGB website.