The deaf women's football team is competing in the match.
By Keqiao Cheng, EDITOR
At the 4th Mitsubishi Friendship Cup finals, held at north China’s Qinhuangdao City, the Deaf Women's Football Team from Chongqing, ranked as runner-up.
The team is from the Special Education School of Xiushan County, Chongqing. All the members are deaf. And it was the first time they represented Chongqing to the national competition.
Two months of hard training
The Mitsubishi Friendship Cup is a football competition for the disabled people, jointly organized by China Foundation for Disabled Persons and China Administration of Sport for Persons with Disabilities, among others.
It is the fourth edition since it was founded in 2015. This year, more than 2,000 football fans with disabilities participated in this event.
Upon receiving the invitation, the seven girls of Xiushan Special Education immediately launched their training program.
According to Cai Beibei, coach of the football team, the girls trained for about six hours a day during the whole summer vacation.
In order to avoid the high temperature, they made a special training plan: morning training was scheduled from 7 to 9 o'clock; afternoon training was from 4: 30 p.m. to 6: 00 p.m. and night training, from 8: 00 p.m. to 9: 00 p.m.
In addition to the daily training, Cai also arranged nutritious meals for the kids. During the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, she watched the games with the football team members, and explained it to everyone with match examples.
Preparing for National Games in November
About 200 competitors with disabilities of 16 teams from all over China participated in the Mitsubishi Friendship Cup.
The teams participating in the deaf women's matches have been formed for a long time, except the team of Chongqing, which was formed and trained for just two months.
Cai Beibei (center, in white) is directing the team members.
However, the summer training also gave the girls a taste of victory. In the three matches held from September 13 to 15, Chongqing deaf women's football team won the teams of Guangdong, Hebei and Liaoning by 5 to 0, 8 to 0 and 7 to 1, respectively. In the end, they lost to the team of Guangxi in the final and ranked second.
“Although we didn’t win the match, the team did enjoy a sense of honor and also found some shortcomings.” said Wang Feng, principal of the Special Education School of Xiushan County.
It is not the end neither. Now the girls are aiming at the National Games of China in November.
Source: CQCB
For more information about sports in Chongqing, please visit SPORTS page of our website.