Portugal has three wins and one loss in boccia competitions at the Paralympic Games.

Portugal finished Thursday with three wins and one defeat in the morning session of the individual boccia competition at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, which will be held at the Paris South Arena.

David Araujo, the youngest of the 27 athletes who make up the Portuguese Mission, beat Brazil’s Yuri Silva 8-0 (1-0, 3-0, 3-0 and 1-0) in the first round of Group F of the BC2 tournament.

In BC1, Andre Ramos beat Canada’s Lance Kreiderman 7-0 (2-0, 2-0, 1-0 and 2-0) in Group D play, while in BC4, Carla Oliveira defeated Brazil’s Laissa Teixeira 4-2 (2-1, 1-0, 1-0 and 0-1).

In the BC3 class, in which athletes compete using parachutes, Jose Goncalves suffered a 9-0 (1-0, 3-2, 2-0 and 3-0) defeat in the first game of Group C against Thailand’s Akkaday Chuchuenklin.

Following his Paralympic debut, 17-year-old David Araujo said he was “very pleased” with his successful debut, admitting that his “initial nervousness disappeared throughout the game.”

“I managed to exploit the opponent’s mistakes well, but I also feel like I made some technical mistakes in the placement of the ball, I want to correct that,” said the athlete, who felt he “exploited the opponent’s mistakes well” while ensuring he would have “studied tactics” for Friday’s two games.

Carla Oliveira, who still has one more game to play this Thursday, was “satisfied with the win” but reminded that “it’s still not synonymous with anything” in terms of progressing to the next stage of the competition.

“The game went well, I think I managed to surprise because I don’t usually play for so long,” said Carla Oliveira, who if she beats Germany’s Anita Raghuvaran in a game scheduled for 19:20 local time (18:20 in Lisbon) will guarantee a place in the quarterfinals.

Athlete Andre Ramos, backed by his competition partner Sara Coelho, ensured he did “everything to win the game” in which he beat Canada’s Lance Kreiderman 7-0.

“Tomorrow [sexta-feira] Today is a day off, then I will play again. These are the second Games I am taking part in, it is always a great honour for me to represent Portugal. The atmosphere is fantastic, I want to win more games,” he said.

Jose Goncalves admitted he was “very sad” about losing the first game of the BC3 tournament, admitting: “Something happened that I didn’t expect, I couldn’t control the first and second half.”

“I didn’t start very well, I’m not happy at all, but there are still two games to go,” said the 49-year-old athlete, making his Paralympic debut.

Boccia is an exclusive Paralympic sport for athletes with limited mobility (cerebral palsy in a wheelchair or neuromuscular disorders) and can be played individually, in pairs or in teams of three.