Paralympic GamesToday’s schedule400m T46Preliminary round-11.36amFinals- 22.00 hoursSitting VolleyballYesterdayRwanda 0-3 ChinaToday, 17.00 hrsRwanda vs. Bosnia & HerzegovFOLLOWING poor performances from the sitting volleyball team and 1500m runner Theoneste Nsengimana, Hermas Cliff Muvunyi holds Rwanda’s hopes of winning silverware when he starts his campaign in the 400m this morning at the Olympic stadium, London.Muvunyi was the only Rwandan who won gold medal in the All Africa Games in Maputo-Mozambique last year. With such remarkable success, the APR club athlete is ready to salvage the country’s damning image in international competitions.He said yesterday, “I have confidence and high hopes of ensuring that the dream i held for a long time comes true. I have had enough preparations and with my good form, I think nothing will stop me from writing a new chapter for Rwanda tomorrow (today),” Muvunyi who holds a personal best time of 50 seconds and 30 tenths (50:30) in 400m recorded when he won gold in the All Africa games last year faces stiff contest from Antonis Aresti of Cyprus, Tshepo Bhene from South Africa, Addoh Kimou of Cote d’Ivoire and Cesar Cardoso from Gaborone. Other medal contenders include China’s Yao Jianjun, Brazil’s Yohannsson Nascimento and Gunther Matzinger from Australia.If Muvunyi qualifies, he will compete in the finals due to be held at 22..00 hours local time. The other athlete who will me making his maiden debut is Theogene Hakizimana in Men’s 82.50kg Powerlifting at ExCel. Technique will be put to the test as much as brute strength as the athletes attempt to lift the bench-press bar.Over the weekend, Rwanda suffered a third consecutive loss to China losing 0-3 (10-25, 13-25, 17-25) in Pool B of the mens Sitting Volleyball competition at the ExCeL.As Rwanda endured back to back defeats, defending champions Iran showcased their ability with an impressive 3-0 win over China in Pool B of the mens Sitting Volleyball competition.Iran looked solid in all areas and, with players of the quality of Majid Lashgarisanami and Ahmad Eiri in their ranks, they established a two-set lead.Iran have yet to drop a set in the tournament and they claimed the third 25-12 to secure victory.In Pool A, Germany beat Russia 3-2 in a thrilling contest. Russia opened up a narrow 12-11 lead in the deciding set, but in a topsy-turvy contest Germany regained the advantage with Jurgen Schrapp causing their opponents problems in defence.And it proved decisive as they held on to take the set 15-13, prompting huge celebrations from the German fans, players and staff around the arena.Bosnia and Herzegovina were too strong for Pool B rivals Brazil, clinching a 3-0 win. Rwanda winds up their group phase campaign against Bosnia and Herzegonia this evening at ExCel. In the 1500m T46, medal hopefuls, Theoneste Nsengimana finished 7th with a time of 4:08.83 to bow out of the contest though his coach Eric Karasira had claimed that the 23-year old athlete had not trained well for a week due to muscle pains in his right leg.If today’s action ends on a successful note, Muvunyi will be on track on Thursday in pursuit for a medal in the 800m T46. The 24-year old athlete who won a silver medal in a time of 1:57:70 during the All Africa games is on verge of emulating Jean de Dieu Nkundabera who last won a bronze medal in 2004 Paralympics games that took place in Athens-Greece in T46 800m race.
