Player Farid Bashir from Germany is in the starting blocks and can’t wait for it to start. He is the only player who can hear today: as a child he was deaf, but between the ages of six and eight he started hearing things. A ‘miracle’ and ‘the work of God’, he beams. Today he is an occasional interpreter for us, although it is difficult for him. “It’s different here with other sign languages,” he says between training.
A little later he helps to ask Italian Nicholas Cosenza something. Things are going a bit difficult, but we are told that the Italian is also looking forward to the tournament. Farid thinks Nicholas is a good player. In any case, he has confidence in his teammates. “I think it is possible to win the tournament!”
Thursday is the first tournament day in Topsportcentrum De Koog in Koog aan de Zaan. The final is on Sunday.