SARAJEVO, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Personal integrity and socialization of disabled people through sports was the focus of the 10th International bowling tournament for blind people held on Saturday afternoon in Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) capital Sarajevo.
In the bowling club located in "Zetra", a complex used for various sporting events at the 1984 Winter Olympics, 80 blind people gathered together to improve their bowling skills and to socialize with other people from the region.
Chairman of the Association of Blind of Canton Sarajevo Kenan Kudus, the organizer, recalled the association's establishment in 1949, and the world record set in Sarajevo.
"The association engages in the improvement of blind people's overall status in the society. We are very proud on the world record that was set in 2011 in Sarajevo when a completely blind man knocked down 650 skittles," Kudus told Xinhua.
The jubilee of the International bowling tournament for blind people gathered 19 teams from Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Germany and BiH and is one of the most important events of this kind in Europe because it is a preparation for the European championship that will be held in June in Bucharest in Romania.
The competitors are divided in four categories, depending from the percentage of blindness, ranging from B1 which is a complete blindness, with no recognition of hand movements at any distance, to B4 which means the competitors have a visual field larger than 20 degrees, Milija Vjekic from a Serbian club told Xinhua.
The values of the development of personal integrity and the socialization of blind people through bowling were two most important things for the majority of competitors who see bowling as one of the activities in which they feel equal with others.
Ankica Novkovic, a competitor in B2 category coming from Serbia, said that a bowling tournament is a sort of socialization and a hobby of most of her friends in the club, but also for people from other clubs as well.
"Since 2010, I am traveling with my club to major competitions, I have also competed here during the World Championship, I once was awarded by gold," Novkovic told Xinhua, emphasizing that for her, the most important is to have a quality time with people with whom she feels equal.
All three places were taken by Croatian clubs, namely "SDS Zagreb", "Zagreb II" and "Rijeka-Slavonski Brod".
