Triumphal tears from Pakistan bocce coach Hyder after eventual victory

IN the end, it all became too much for Hyder, a Pakistan bocce coach at the Simmonscourt Arena in the RDS, Dublin.

A day of triumph, disappointment and then triumph again had left her an emotional wreck and when the news reached her that her two young bocce athletes had indeed won gold, the tears poured down her face.

Three hours earlier, Hyder had watched her athletes Ayesha Siddiqa Iqbal from Lahore and Fozia Latif from Islamabad take gold in an epic doubles final on lane one against Venezualan's Rojas pair of Karina and Yexsimar.

An hour later came the first tears of the day as the South Americans launched a protest at what they claimed to be over-coaching of the Asian pair.

Coaching is a real grey area at the Special Olympics with athletes of widely varying capabilities competing. What is and isn't acceptable is not always clear. These four athletes were competing in the low abilities category and, although their coaches were not allowed to give any advice, their interpreters were.

The problem for the Venzualans was that Pakistan's interpreter, Abdul, a wonderfully resourceful 23-year-old from India who speaks Urdu, Hindi, Arabic and English was too helpful. Improbably, they also claimed there was coaching going on between the two athletes, making one wonder if any form of communication was permissible for the game's duration.

Compounding Pakistan's difficulties in communicating the most basic instructions to the girls, neither of whom speak, was the fact little Fozia had picked up a cold at the opening ceremony in Croke Park on Sunday and required a heavy dose of antibiotics all week.

Nevertheless, a replay was ordered and, cruelly, Pakistan saw their gold medal disappear.

"I don't understand it," a shocked Hyder said. "These are athletes competing in a low capabilities event and they need a certain amount of guidance to just complete the competition. Rules that didn't exist this morning are being quoted to us now and I just can't make it out."

A counter-protest meant the four girls had to play for a third time. Pakistan won 13-10 and the gold medal was theirs again.

"Bocce has just started in Pakistan two years back," Hyder explained. "These are our first games to compete in bocce and it is fantastic to get our first medals in the sport. It's wonderful. It was very difficult to make this happen. It was difficult to make them understand to play here because these sort of facilities we don't have (in Pakistan). We are used to playing just on grass and rough surfaces."

The shame of it is that the original result wasn't allowed to stand because what the crowd witnessed then was sport at its most compelling.

Four girls from Pakistan and Venezuala were engaged in a tit-for-tat battle. The premise of bocce is simple. A small ball (pallino) is rolled down the court and the idea is to roll as many larger balls closer to it than your opponent, the first to 12 points winning. With the end in sight, these teams couldn't be separated until, at 11 apiece, Venezuala's Yexsimar Rojas rolled a ball to within 10 inches of the pallino.

Game over or so we thought. Fozia Latif then stepped up for Pakistan and, she rolled her red ball to within five inches of the pallino. Checkmate.

Ireland's bocce Team Two, Pamela Mayes and Dympna Brown, won silver after being beaten 12-6 by Croatia in their final yesterday.