Twelve sports form busy programme

The sixteenth World Games for the Deaf will be kicked off this afternoon by the soccer players.

The round ball code will be one of the busiest sports at the 12-day international festival. Matches will be played on every day of the Games, and organisers are hoping that English Park will be able to stand up to so much football.

Several months of concentrated effort have been put in by the ground staff to prepare the park, and the transformation has been marked. Ground has been grubbed, top-dressed, re-seeded and watered and has consequently produced a good strike of grass.

Players will need to wear mould-studded boots and the hard grounds, according to the soccer organisers, Mr Trevor Colenbrander.

Two small bare areas are sideline are causing concern, but the venue organiser, Eric Barker, said the ground would hold up well if the weather remained dry during the Games.

Queen Elizabeth II Park will be used for matches on the day of the opening ceremony tomorrow and for the closing day finals.

Today England, silver medallists at the last Games, will play Sweden and Australia will play West Germany in group A.

Tomorrow New Zealand, competing in soccer for the first time, will play the Netherlands, and Korea will take on Italy, the gold medal winner at the 1985 Games in Los Angeles.

The home side has 18 players in its squad, but many of them are relatively inexperienced. Craig Haworth, a 23-year-old Christchurch track driver, has had 5 years soccer and 7 years basketball experience, and Don and Upton are playing their first game for 10 of his 16 years. He was a Canterbury lower grade soccer representative, although he recently switched to rugby league.

New Zealand’s coach is John Young (Auckland), a former national league player.

Japan is expected to be the dominant force again in the table tennis competitions. It achieved a clean sweep of all gold medals at the Los Angeles Games, and is the principal threat.

Takashima, are in Christchurch to defend their titles.

Both champions won the gold medals in 1985 and helped Japan win both team’s events. Japanese men’s doubles partner, Yoshida, is joining him again next week, but Takashima’s doubles partner, Yoshida, is joining him again next week, but Takashima’s doubles partner, Yoshida, is joining him again next week, but Takashima’s doubles partner, Yoshida, is joining him again next week.

Competition starts at the Pioneer Stadium on Sunday with the team contests, and 21 women and 35 men have entered the singles events, which start on Tuesday.

West Germany is expected to make a strong showing, and a strong display is expected from China, which has sent the maximum four men and four women for the first time. Russia and Kuwait are other new entrants.

New Zealand’s seven-strong team includes John Lavell (Christchurch) and Kaz Wilco (Wellington), who are attending their third Deaf Games, and Glen Rapsley (New Plymouth), who participated in the Games of 1971 and 1981.

The New Zealand men were sixth out of nine teams in 1985, but the country was not represented in women’s events.

David McBride, of Christchurch, is this year’s coach.

Seven men’s and four women’s teams will contest the volleyball titles in Cowles Stadium. This is also the venue for the basketball, and this will also be the venue for wrestling, which will be a combination of styles, especially Greco-Roman, where the organisers are hoping to see some spectacular displays.

New Zealand has put together two teams to contest the titles for the first time. Although many of the players are gaining experience rapidly they will find the overseas opposition difficult to compete against.

The home team is captain by Karen Barabi, and has a number of players who have gained experience recently in the sport.

Five men’s teams from the Los Angeles Games are again in the field, including the gold medal winner Finland, which beat Japan in straight sets in the final.

The women’s gold medal winner from 1985, the United States, and its rivals, West Germany and Japan, are expected to be too strong for the local sides.

France won eight golds at Los Angeles, and Britain (10) was the only other nation to gain more than one title.

New Zealand will have seven athletes in the field, and local hopes will be pinned on the up and coming Frank Watson. Auckland’s Michael Rose and Karen Barabi will also be the local hopes in the Games.

Of the newcomers, Kerry Titcombe (Wellington) could show in the women’s 1500m.

There will be a very strong New Zealand presence in the wrestling at the Games, in which the United States has notable talent for top honours, and the shooting, which is always contested by European countries.

The main aiming for this third successive gold medal, John Macdonald, will be hoping to gain points for the cycling team.

Other cyclists include William Tindall (New Plymouth).

There are four cycling events, including sprint at the Wigram airfield this Sunday morning. Tindall, New Zealand’s premier rider, will take part in four events.

The time trial, on January 11, will start at the race end of Buccleugh Road, and the 100km road race, two days later, will commence from the starting point on Halswell Road.

The marathon will be run on January 15. The cycling events have drawn 23 competitors from 10 countries.