Special Olympics Bharat (SOB), the national federation promoting sports for athletes with intellectual disabilities, announced a 16 member squad that will represent the country for the Special Olympics Asia Pacific Bocce and Bowling Competition, to be held from November 18th to 22nd at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex. The squad consists of eight athletes each for both Bocce and Bowling, along with eight coaches who will assist them.
The competition will offer unique opportunities for the often-underserved age group whose participation in sports typically declines as they get older.
More than 100 athletes from 12 Special Olympics Programs, including the likes of Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Phillipines, Hong Kong, Macao, Uzbekistan and Bangladesh besides Bharat, are set to participate in the competition, hailing from three different regions, namely, East Asia, Europe Eurasia, and Asia Pacific. It also marks a historic first for Special Olympics Bharat (SOB) as it introduces bowling as a competitive sport for Special athletes, in partnership with the Tenpin Federation of India.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a press release)