Special effort goes close to first medal

Special Wanganui athlete Diederik Struijck just missed out on his first medal in the world on Boccia in Wellington last weekend.

Struijck was competing at the Lower North Island Championships at the ASB Sports Stadium in Kilbirnie.

Luke Morriss, Director of Boccia, said despite having only a year of playing under his belt, Struijck lost out to local favourite Hyran Daymond in the bronze medal match of the BC3 grade 7-9.

"Apart from Diederik, other promising players such as Northland's Alex Dickson and Wellington's Daymond showed that they are going to be forces to be reckoned with over the next few years," Morriss said.

Boccia is similar to bocce and related to bowls and pétanque.

It is contested by athletes with more severe physical disabilities originally being designed for people with cerebral palsy but now including others with motor skill problems.

In 1984 it became a Paralympic sport, now one of only three sports with no counterpart in the Olympic program.

The championships saw competitors from Northland, Auckland, Palmerston North, Wanganui and Wellington, whose city was hosting for the first time in 10 years.

"This tournament took on an extra spark of motivation as this was the first ranking event of the year with the ultimate goal of the Rio Paralympics 2016 at the back of everyone's mind," said Morriss.

There has been a development initiative to get New Zealand competitors back on the international scene after a hiatus of three years.