The International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) World Games gathered pace on Wednesday (13 February) as competitions in other sports began in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Wheelchair fencing also continued as well as the final day of shooting. Athletics, swimming, badminton and table tennis all got underway at venues across the city.

Full results and schedules are available at the IWAS website.

Shooting

The UAE’s Abdullah Sultan Alaryani completed a full house of victories on the shooting range on the final day of competition.

The home favourite led two more of his teammates onto the podium in R3 (mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1).

Alnuaimi Saif and Obaid Al Dahmani claimed second and third respectively.

Alaryani was also triumphant in R6 (mixed 50m rifle prone SH1). Germany’s Elke Seeliger followed him in second place. The UAE’s Abdullah Saif Alaryani took his latest podium in Sharjah with bronze.

In R5 (mixed 10m air rifle prone SH2), Switzerland’s Nicole Haeusler was the victor. India’s Sriharsha Devaraddi Ramakrishina was second and Austria’s Johann Windhofer was third.

Athletics

The athletics began at the Al Thiqah Sports Club with some mixed-class events amongst single class competitions.

The UAE enjoyed their latest gold medal success to follow on from shooting, courtesy of Ahmed Alhousani in the men’s javelin F33.

Alhousani threw 18.59m with just his second throw to beat Algeria’s Kamel Kardjena (17.42m). The UAE’s Hassan Ali Obai Malaleih (15.25m) rounded off the podium.

India’s Balasubramanian Rajkumar won the men’s 200m T40.

In the other men’s 200m final, which was a mixed class event, Algeria’s T37 sprinter Sofiane Hamdi claimed gold with 853 points.

The juniors 200m (T44/46/63/44) category saw Thailand’s Denpoom Kotcharang cross the finish line first.

Germany’s Lindy Ave, a T38 athlete, grabbed gold in the women’s 100m T37/38/45/47 with 910 points. South Africa’s Sheryl James (859 points) followed Ave onto the podium ahead of Germany’s Isabelle Foerder (411 points).

Table tennis

South Korean players took away three gold medals on day one with a strong start to competition.

Byung Jung Song won both his matches against Thai silver medallist Thirayu Chueawong and Kazakhstan’s Bereket Akzhigitov in the men’s singles class 2 to top his group.

Cha-Soo Kang progressed through the knock-out stages of the men’s singles class 5, beating teammate Jang Sub-Choi to the gold.

South Korea’s final gold came in the men’s single class 4 as the country’s players also secured silver and bronze,

Gu-Young Song, Ki-Young Jun and Myoeng-Wook Ko were the top three.

Swimming

Thailand’s Monruedee Kangpila joined teammate Phuchit Aingcaiyaphum in topping the podium in the  women’s and men’s 100m freestyle respectively.

Due to the number of low classification and higher classification swimmers, some races were split in two for the men’s.

Aingcaiyaphum won the lower classification gold featuring S5-S7 swimmers, whilst India’s Swapnil Sanjay Patil won the higher classification race featuring S8 and S10 swimmers.

Estonia left with the lion’s share of gold medals on day one, claiming three overall at the American University Sharjah.

Multiple Paralympian Kardo Ploompiuu, an S10 swimmer, touched in first to claim 597 points in the men’s mixed class 100m backstroke featuring S8-S10 swimmers.

Teammate Matz Topkin (S4) won the men’s lower class race with 907 points.

Wheelchair fencing

The final individual medal events took place on Wednesday ahead of the team competitions and start of the under 17 IWAS Wheelchair Fencing World Championships on Thursday (13 February).

Poland’s Grzegorz Pluta emerged victorious from his gold medal match with Italian world champion Alessio Sarri in the men’s sabre category B, 15-13.

“Alessio is a very good athlete – very fast and with a very good technique so every time when we are fighting together the matches are very difficult,” Pluta said. “Sometimes Sarri is going to win, sometimes I am going to win. Today the luck was on my side but the matches are always very difficult and that is why the score is very close.”

Pluta’s win continues his great run of form from 2018 where he claimed three World Cup sabre golds. At the start of a World Championships year, the Polish fencer is feeling better than ever before:

“Of course the result is great so I think that I am very well-prepared. But it doesn’t come from nowhere. I was very well prepared at the beginning of the year but it is not only training of fencing but I am also working with a psychologist and trainer so all the steps that I have done lead to this result.”

Russia’s Alexander Kurzin and Poland’s Adrian Castro secured bronze.

China’s Haiyan Gu ended her campaign with gold in the women’s sabre category A. The Asian champion overcame Ukraine’s world title-holder Nataliia Morkvych 15-6.

Hungarian teammate Eva Andreja Hajmasi and Amarilla Veres were the bronze medallists.

Greece’s Ntounis Vasileios won the first World Cup of his career in the men’s sabre A.

The 28-year-old took on Great Britain’s Piers Gilliver in the final and eased past him 15-8.

Italy’s Edoardo Giordan and Russia’s Maxim Shaburov completed the top three.

Georgia’s Irma Khetsuriani beat Ukraine’s European Olena Fedota 15-10 in the women’s sabre B.

Poland’s Patrycja Hareza and China’s Shumei Tan both claimed bronze.

The 2019 IWAS World Games continue until 16 February. More than 500 athletes from 50 countries are competing in seven sports across three venues.