‘Long’ hands helped Choo

The 8th ASEAN Para Games will be held here from Dec 3-9, with some 1,500 athletes from 10 countries competing for honours. As Team Singapore readies for the battle on home ground, TODAY takes a closer look at each of the 15 sports that will be contested, and the inspirational stories behind the local athletes participating in them. The focus today is on wheelchair basketball.

SINGAPORE — When Choo Poh Choon tapped the side of his wheelchair lightly and described himself as lucky, it was hard not to admire his optimism.

Paralysed from the waist down after a freak accident he suffered as a young soldier in 2001, Choo would revisit the darkest moment of his life at the drop of a question, and recount the tale that changed his life in more ways than one.

Choo was just 21 when he came down with a fever during Army training in a dense jungle in Brunei, and a chopper was sent to take him to the nearest medical facility. That was when disaster stuck.

“Once the chopper arrived, it hovered and the personnel tried to send someone down to lift me up,” recalled Choo, the captain of Singapore’s wheelchair basketball team for this week’s ASEAN Para Games (APG). “But while hovering above, its propeller hit part of a tree and branches came down, hitting my spine.”

The force of the impact left him paralysed from the waist down.

“It was very strong. I was lucky it hit my spine,” he added with a smile. “If it moved a few inches and hit my head, I wouldn’t be here talking to you right now.”

Losing control of his legs was a devastating blow to a man who was a sports junkie. It took months for Choo to accept that he could not walk any more. “I was at the prime of my life when I got injured. Because of the injury, my life changed,” he said.

In some ways, life has changed for the better. Choo may have lost his legs, but he found basketball.

“When I first became disabled, I thought life was finished. But then I discovered that even the disabled could drive cars,” he said.

And it was while learning how to drive that he met the person in charge of wheelchair basketball from the Handicaps Welfare Association, who invited Choo to join the team.

“He saw that my hands were pretty long and he assumed that I play basketball,” he said with a laugh. “So I thought, why not?” He has never looked back, and has amassed enough international experience to be named skipper of his country’s wheelchair basketball team — even though he is the youngest member and is making his APG debut.

Choo and his team-mates have been training twice a week ahead of this week’s APG. He said his team is peaking well and are aiming to challenge for medals.

“Training is going very well and the team is in a jovial mood,” said the business analyst. “For us, the main goal would be to show Singapore what wheelchair basketball is all about.

“I want to encourage younger people with disability to try not to stay at home. There are plenty of things waiting for you to do outside. Life can be interesting and fun even though you are on a wheelchair.”

ASEAN PARA GAMES WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL

Wheelchair basketball is basically a game of basketball while riding in a wheelchair. It is played between two teams with five players each. They cannot use their lower body. It is designed for athletes who have a physical impairment that prevents them from running, jumping and pivoting. It’s a violation to touch the wheels more than three times while holding the ball on the player’s lap when playing wheelchair basketball. However, unlike in normal basketball, a double dribble is not considered a violation.

CLASSIFICATION

Wheelchair basketball players are allocated one of eight sport classes from 1 to 4.5 points. The total number of points are not allowed to exceed 14.0 for five players on court at any given time.

1 point - Little or no trunk control and thus cannot bend forward or sideways or rotate to catch and pass the ball. Backrest of the wheelchair is a bit higher for a stable position and athletes are strapped to the wheelchair

2 points - Able to lean forward and rotate their body to some extent, allowing them to catch the ball within a larger radius. Wheelchairs have a higher backrest and strapping for trunk support

3 points - Have trunk control that allows them to fully rotate and lean forward, but does not allow them to lean to the sides. Wheelchair has a low backrest as they do not need sitting support

4 points - Able to move forward and rotate and partially lean to the sides. Have difficulty with controlled movement to one side due to limitations in one lower limb.

4.5 points - This is the least eligible impairment. No restriction in trunk rotation or leaning forward or sideways

TEAM SINGAPORE:

Choo Poh Choon Emilio, Goh Thean Tye Dexter, Khoo Seng Wah Edwin, Michael Lee Kah Poh, Chua Chong Hoi Tommy, Mohamed Hussain Abdul Jabbar, V Vijayan, Suhaimi Bin Pa’in, Ng Chong Ping and Kamas Mohd.

THE GAMES ON MEDIACORP:

On okto:

* Dec 3: Opening ceremony ‘LIVE’ at 8pm

* Dec 4-9: Daily action belt, 8-10pm

* Daily Highlights, ‘LIVE’, 10-10.30pm

On Toggle

* Visit Toggle.sg/APG2015