Belgium’s goalball squad still has a chance to qualify for the quarter-finals at the Tokyo Paralympic Games despite losing 2-4 to Ukraine on Sunday in their last Group B match.
The Belgian Bulls, who are sixth in the world rankings, suffered their first defeat in the tournament on Saturday when they lost 0-2 to Germany, after wins against China (10-3) and Turkey (6-4).
With two wins and two losses, the Bulls need to await the results of the other matches in their group to see if they qualify for the quarter-finals.
Two groups of five teams are participating in the tournament. The first four teams in each group advance to the last eight. In the event of a tie, qualification will be decided on the goal average.
The captain of the goalball team, Bruno Vanhove, was the Belgian delegation’s flag bearer at Tuesday’s Paralympics opening ceremony.
Belgium’s goalball squad won bronze at the 2018 World Championships in Sweden. The team had placed 10th at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008 and 7th in London in 2012 but failed to qualify for Rio in 2016.
Goalball is the most popular team sport for the blind and the visually impaired.
The Brussels Times
