RWANDA’s sitting volleyball team is working towards being in good shape ahead of the Paralympics Games that start on August 29 in London.The president of National Paralympics Committee, who is also a member of the national sitting volleyball team, Dominique Bizimana, told Times Sport from London that his team members will be ready and fit for the Games.Reports from the team’s base at Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centre, have indicated that two members of the team are sick. Team doctor Jean Pierre Nkurayija named the athletes as Fulgence Hagenimana and Vincent Tuyisenge. According to Nkurayija, Tuyisenge is suffering from facial paralysis while Hagenimana is nursing a flu.Facial paralysis occurs when a person is no longer able to move some or all of the muscles on one side of the face.“Both players are on a recovery process and we hope everyone will be in good shape and state of mind before the Games start on August 29,” added Bizimana.Rwanda opens her Paralympic Games quest with the sitting volleyball team taking on defending champions Iran on August 30.Rwanda will then play Brazil on August 31 before winding up their Group B matches against China on September 2. Group A has hosts Great Britain, Morocco, Russia, Germany and Egypt.Apart from sitting volleyball team, Hermas Muvunyi (400m and 800m), Théoneste Nsengimana (1,500m), and power-lifter Théogène Hakizimana (82.50kg) are the other athletes set to compete in the Games.Jean de Dieu Nkundabera won Rwanda’s first ever medal during the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, where he took bronze in the T46 men’s 800 metre race, with a time of 1:58.95.
