Francis Rombouts (born 11 February 1984) is a Belgian Paralympic boccia player of Indian descent. He competes in classification BC2.[1]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 11 February 1984 India | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Boccia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | BC2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Bas Van Dycke Wesley Deleu | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Biography
editRombouts was born in India with cerebral palsy and was adopted at the age of 18 months by a Belgian family.[1] He started playing Boccia at the age of 12 at Parantee-Psylosclub IE Sport at the insistence of club administrator Jo De Becker who was also a teacher at Rombouts's school, "VIBO De Brem", a special education school in Oud-Turnhout.[2] He is a member of Spinnaker in Ekeren, Belgium, a sporting club associated with Heder, an institution for children, youngsters and adults with a mental or physical disability.[1][3] His chosen nickname is "Blackjack", a reference to the white ball or "jack" associated with Boccia and the dark colour of his skin.[1]
Personal
editRombouts lives in Tielen.[4]
Competitions
editHis first international competition was in 1989 in Mar del Plata, Argentina.[5]
Rombouts considers his 2nd place at the European Championships in 2005 to be his best performance ever.[1][5]
He quit the sport in 2007 but, after a hiatus of 10 years,[5] he returned to the sport and won a bronze medal at the 2023 European Para Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.[6]
His best result at the Boccia World Championships came in 2022 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil when he finished just outside the medals losing in the bronze medal match to world number 2, Thailand's Watcharaphon Vongsa.[7]
Rombouts' big dream, to qualify for Summer Paralympics, was thwarted in 2000 and 2004 but became a reality after he returned to the sport in 2017 when he was selected for the 2020[8] and 2024 Summer Paralympics.[9][4] In Tokyo, he was eliminated at the group stage after losing his first two games, the second one against world number 1, Thailand's Worawut Saengampa.[10][11]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "FRANCIS ROMBOUTS" (in Dutch). Belgian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Bocciaspeler Francis Rombouts gaat naar Paralympische Spelen Tokyo 2021" (in Dutch). G-Sport Vlaanderen. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ [1]. Over Spinnaker
- ^ a b [2]. PARIS 2024 PARALYMPIC GAMES - ROMBOUTS Francis
- ^ a b c "Francis Rombouts" (in Dutch). G-Sport Vlaanderen. 12 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "FRANCIS ROMBOUTS REMPORTE LE BRONZE À L'EURO DE BOCCIA" (in French). Belgian Paralympic Committee. 12 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "F. ROMBOUTS PREND LA 4ÈME PLACE AUX CH. DU MONDE DE BOCCIA" (in French). Belgian Paralympic Committee. 10 December 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Rombouts first Belgian athlete picked for Tokyo 2020 Paralympics". Inside the Games. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Final selections for Paris 2024". Boccia International Sports Federation. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Francis Rombouts éliminé après une deuxième défaite en boccia aux Jeux Paralympiques de Tokyo" (in French). RTL INFO. 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Results Archive - Tokyo 2020 - Boccia - Individual Bc2". www.paralympic.org. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
External links
editFrancis Rombouts at Paralympic.org
- Francis Rombouts at the Belgian Paralympic Committee (in Dutch)