Brazil’s boccia team receives Allianz Best Team of the Month for September

The Brazilians upset the resounding favourites South Korea for gold at Rio 2016. 28 Oct 2016
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Six people on a podium. Three are in wheelchairs, three are standing behind them
Brazil’s BC3 boccia team is top of the world rankings
ⒸDaniel Zappe/MPIX/CPB
By IPC

Brazil’s BC3 boccia team has been voted by the public as the Allianz Best Team of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Comprised of Evelyn de Oliveira, Antonio Leme and Evani Soares da Silva, the team beat the overwhelming favourites and world No. 1 South Korea last month. Brazil lost to South Korea in the early rounds but came back to dominate 5-2 in the finals.

Brazil received 55 per cent of the public vote. The Australian wheelchair rugby team (16 per cent) and the US women’s sitting volleyball team (15 per cent) were jockeying for second place in the polls. Brazil’s football 5-a-side, the Turkish women’s goalball and the Chinese women’s 4x100m relay T11-13 teams were also nominated.

In lieu of the IPC Athlete of the Month award for September, the honour is being separated into three different categories – Best Male Athlete, Best Female Athlete and Best Team – based on results at Rio 2016.

The 2016 winners so far are:

January – Abdullah Sultan Alaryani, United Arab Emirates, shooting

February – Andrey Smirnov, Russia, wheelchair curling

March – Stephen McGuire, Great Britain, boccia

April – Carlos Serrano, Colombia, swimming

May – Shelby Watson, Great Britain, athletics

June – Elena Krawzow, Germany, swimming

July – Richard Whitehead, Great Britain, athletics

August – Ekrem Gundogdu, Turkey, goalball

September (Best Male) – Siamand Rahman, Iran, powerlifting

September (Best Female) – Sareh Javanmardidodmani, Iran, shooting

September (Best Team) – Brazil, boccia BC3 team