Goalball World Championships Underway

The 2010 International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Goalball World Championships are currently happening in Sheffield, Great Britain, with athletes on their highest guard on the court.

Taking place from 17-25 June, competition on the fourth day saw big results with Iran leading the way in the Men’s Pool A with 19 points. Following Iran were China (18 points), USA (15 points), Algeria (10 points) and Canada (10 points). In the Men’s Pool B, Lithuania was on top with 21 points, followed by Spain (13 points), Sweden (12 points), Brazil (11 points) and Slovenia (10 points).

In the Women’s Pool X, USA was first with 15 points. Following USA were Canada (12 points), Sweden (6 points), Australia (4 points) and Israel (4 points). In the Women’s Pool Y, China leads with 15 points, followed by Finland (9 points), Denmark (7 points), Japan (6 points) and Russia (4 points).

Day five continues the excitement, with competition running through 16:00 GMT.

Goalball is played by male and female athletes with a visual impairment and athletes wear ‘blackout’ masks on the playing court, which allows persons with varying degrees of vision to participate together. The game consists of two halves of 10 minutes each. The governing body of Goalball is the International Blind Sport Federation (IBSA).