[Anchor]
South Korea's top boccia star, Choi Ye-jin, has won a silver medal at the World Boccia Championships, a sport for athletes with severe disabilities. By securing the host nation's first medal of the tournament, she has further heightened expectations for the Asian Para Games coming up this October.
Reporter Lee Jeong-Chan has the details.
[Reporter]
Boccia is a sport for athletes with severe disabilities in which competitors try to throw as many balls as possible closer to a white target ball than their opponent.
It is also a strategic event in which the South Korean national team has won gold medals for 10 consecutive Paralympic Games, much like archery in the Summer Olympics.
This is the first time South Korea has hosted the World Championships, which take place every four years. Competing in front of home fans, Choi Ye-jin delivered a brilliant silver-medal performance in the BC3 class, which is for athletes with the most severe impairments.
Facing a Thai opponent in the final, Choi was locked in a tight 3-3 tie and forced into a tiebreaker. However, her bold attempt to knock away the opponent's red ball failed, resulting in a comeback defeat.
With the gold medal slipping away just moments before victory, Choi's eyes welled with tears.
[Choi Ye-jin / Boccia National Team Member: It's disappointing, but I think I did well.]
Beginning with the 2012 London Paralympics, Choi enjoyed a golden era, claiming two gold medals and one silver medal. However, she failed to make the national team and missed the recent Paris Games.
Having reclaimed the Taegeuk mark through indomitable will and signaling her resurrection at this World Championships, Choi vowed to climb higher on the podium at the Asian Para Games this October.
[Choi Ye-jin / Boccia National Team Member: I will refine my game and win the gold medal.]
[Go Korea!]
(Video by Yang Doo-won | Video Editing by Park Gi-deok | Design by Lee Ga-jin)
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