Dave Beaumont, Liu Junwei and Hydred Goldberg
The WPA Heyball Parasport World Championship came to its conclusion on December 20th, after five grueling days of play at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The wheelchair division came down to two players very familiar with each others games, as the UK’s Dave Beaumont defeated Ireland’s Fred Dinsmore in a 7-1 final match.
Both players went undefeated in the double elimination first stage of the event, and then navigated the single elimination second stage to face off for the gold.
In the Men’s Standing division, it was also two players familiar with each other, as China’s Liu Junwei defeated fellow countryman Xue Wen 7-5 in an all Chinese finals
Again, both players went undefeated through the opening double elimination stage and the single elimination final stage, until meeting each other in the finals.
The ladies division saw a unique finish as American (via the Philippines) Hydred Goldberg defeated Switzerland’s Catherine Scheeberger in the finals.
These two ladies faced off in the first round of the round robin opening stage of the event, playing down to a spot shot shootout before Goldberg won the match 4-3. Neither player lost a rack for the remainder of the round robin stage and Goldberg won her semi-final match over the Ukraine’s Emma Svidzinska 5-0 before facing Schneeberger again in the finals. That final match went to another shootout with Goldberg coming out on top again for the gold medal.
