Zimbabwe's bocce duo of Trevor Zartmann and Shadreck Swartz will kick-start the country's medal hunt at the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China, The Herald reported on Thursday.
They will take part in the men's singles straight finals at the Shanghai Jiading Stadium, the newspaper said.
The players completed the preliminary testing and divisioning on Wednesday but the women's pair of Maria Bezuidenhout and Elinah Ndlovu will remain inactive on Thursday.
Athletes with an IQ almost similar or not exceeding plus or minus 10 percent of each other find themselves in the same division if they are of the same age and gender.
And with division in bocce set to be completed last night after the Zimbabweans went through the aptitude tests, the men will kick-start the singles medal hunt today.
Head of the Zimbabwe delegation Mike Mazonde said on Wednesday there was a fair chance that his team could get their first medal. "Athletes at these Games are put into different divisions according to their abilities with a 10 percent leeway, age and gender," Mazondesaid.
"Now that has been done we wait to see how they will do in the finals. I could say our chances are 50-50 to get medals here," said Mazonde.
Ndlovu is set to play Friday while Bezuidenhout is supposed to take to the field on Saturday although the schedule for the competitions here could change depending on the circumstances.
Meanwhile the track and field athletes yesterday went on a heath check exercise at the Special Olympics Town's exhibition center in the district of Yangpu.
Athletics assistant coach Christine Rimbi took charge of Natalia Machanzi, Blessing Mukwanda, Godfrey Kamanga, Tessa Chiremba and Bekhi Lunga alongside the Chinese volunteers.
The athletes went through random checks on their fitness, hearing, eyesight, dental and bone health.
The volunteering medical team mostly made up of Chinese personnel and some Americans also checked the Special Olympians on weight and gave dietary guidelines.
Later the team toured the amusement center at the exhibition centers, which offered calligraphy, Chinese basketball weaving, karaoke dances, hula-hoop games and dragon paintings.
Source: Xinhua
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