Paralympics: A look at Rwanda’s sitting volleyball opponents

The women sitting Volleyball is one of 539 medal events, across 22 sports, that will be played at the 2020 Summer Paralympics officially which kicked off in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, August 24. The national women’s sitting volleyball tournament, which will be contested for the fifth time in the Paralympics, will be held in Makuhari Messe in Tokyo, where eight nations will be tussling out for medals during the next two weeks. They include hosts Japan, Russia, gold medal defending champions United States, Canada, Rwanda, Brazil, Italy and China. Rwanda is drawn in Pool B alongside the United States, China and Russia. Times Sport looks at each of the group opponents as they start to lock horns on Thursday, August 27 when Rwanda plays the opening game against the United States. Rwanda Rwanda qualified for the Tokyo Paralympic Games in the women’s sitting volleyball for the second consecutive time in 2019 after beating Egypt in Kigali to retain the African Championship. They became the first Sub-Saharan women’s team in history, in any sport, to compete at the Paralympic Games at Rio 2016. They eventually finished eighth following defeat by Canada. China China booked their ticket to represent Asia and Oceania in Tokyo after beating Japan in the final on three straight sets in the final to win the title of the women’s tournament of the 2019 ParaVolley Asia Oceania Sitting Volleyball Championships held in June 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. The win marked the Chinese second consecutive title in the Asian and Oceanian region after ending the campaign once again without dropping a set with a perfect win-record in the 2019 edition. They go to Tokyo seeking to win a gold medal they lost to the United States in Rio. Russia Russians established themselves as a team to beat ahead of Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, having completed their campaign at the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championships in Budapest, Hungary, undefeated in seven matches. They booked the ticket to Tokyo 2020 after beating Germany in the semifinals before demolishing Italy to strike Gold on the process. United States Team US team are in Tokyo to defend the gold medal they won at the Rio 2016 Games, with a commanding 3-0 victory over China in the final to secure their first Paralympic gold medal. Their road to booking a ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games was, however, not impressive. They suffered a 3-1 defeat to the Russian Federation in the 2018 final in the Netherlands but their runners-up spot was enough to ensure qualification for Tokyo. The US team are reigning champions at the Parapan American Games, having secured wins over Brazil in the final in both 2015 and 2019.

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Paralympics: A look at Rwanda’s sitting volleyball opponents