Daisuke Ikezaki, Japan’s Ace, Talks about the Best Parts of Wheelchair Rugby: “I Want People to Experience the Intensity, the Sound of Impact, and the Sensation of Speed

Agile movement even with zero grip strength

In September, Japan finally won the gold medal in wheelchair rugby at the Paris Paralympics. The driving force behind this success was Daisuke Ikezaki (46, Mitsubishi Corporation).

During an attack and defense battle near the try line, Ikezaki was surrounded by opponents and moved sideways. Surrounded by opponents, Ikezaki made a small move to the side, and at that moment, he backed up for a try!　Ikezaki is now regarded as one of the world’s top wheelchair rugby players, but he has zero grip strength in both hands and cannot hold the hand rims (rings attached to the outside of the wheels). It is a complete mystery how he maneuvers his wheelchair (a wheelchair for wheelchair rugby), let alone the agile movements he displays in games.

He says, “It has nothing to do with grip strength. I started using a wheelchair when I was in junior high school, first in wheelchair basketball, then switched to rugby, and have been playing wheelchair sports for 31 years now, so I have my own way of rowing and chair skills. In my case, when I row, I move the tire as if I were tapping it with the base of my palm. When I stop, I press my elbow against the tire.

Ikezaki is not the only athlete who cannot grip the hand rim. Unlike wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby players must have disabilities in their upper limbs (fingers and arms) and lower limbs (below the thighs), and some players have little or no trunk function.

Each player is assigned a score in increments of 0.5 depending on the degree of disability. Ikezaki has a score of 3.0. The match is played four-on-four, and the teams are organized so that the four players have a total of no more than eight points. Players with disabilities ranging from 3.0 to 3.5, such as Ikezaki, are called “high pointers,” and their main focus is on attacking. Players with disabilities of 0.5 to 1.5 are called low pointers and are mainly responsible for defense.

The high pointers tend to get most of the attention at the games, but one of the attractions of this sport is the system that allows all players, both light and heavy, to stand on the court and play their roles.

Japan won a long-sought gold medal at the Paris Paralympics, but in previous Paralympics, the semi-finals have been a daunting task.’ Japan was also considered a gold medal contender in Tokyo in 2009, but lost to Great Britain in the semifinals.” In London in 2012 and Rio in 2004, Japan also lost in the semi-finals, and in Paris, the semi-final against Australia was a paper-thin battle to the death.

With 14 seconds left in the final period, tied 47-47, the ball was in Australia’s court. A single pass by Australia would have resulted in a try, and with so little time remaining, there was no way for Japan to win. And the ball was in the hands of Australia’s absolute ace, Riley Butt.

However, Ikezaki tackled Butt with such ferocity that Butt’s desperation pass was cut off by Ike Yukinobu (44), and the game went into overtime with the score tied. The match went into overtime tied, with Japan winning by a narrow 52-51 margin.

Everyone thought we would lose in the semifinals again,” Ikezaki said,

I didn’t think we would lose at all. I didn’t have any feelings of winning or losing. I reached out desperately and the ball hit my hand. If we had made a mistake, we could have been fouled, but we had to play aggressive defense to get the ball. What we have done up to now is firmly ingrained in our bodies, so we were able to bring it out on the court without any emotional turmoil, and as a result, I think we were able to achieve our goal of winning the gold medal.

I never felt down.”

The low pointer was also excellent in this scene, with Ryuji Kusaba (23) containing Australia’s Christopher Bond.

When you watch wheelchair rugby, your eyes are inevitably drawn to where the ball is, but the defense and tactics of the low pointers is also a highlight. Of course, wheelchair rugby is the only wheelchair sport in which wheelchairs can collide with each other, so the intensity that can be seen with the eyes and the sound of impact are the biggest attractions. It is also a fast-paced game, and I think first-time spectators will enjoy it as well.

Ikezaki has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a neurological disorder that causes gradual muscle weakness in the limbs, which put him in a wheelchair in his third year of junior high school. How does he feel about the handicap of being in a wheelchair from junior high school?

In high school, there were times when I felt inconvenienced, but I never felt depressed or had any hard, painful feelings. I think that is because I was blessed with friends from a young age. I was slow to walk and slow to run because of the loss of muscle strength. But I played soccer and baseball with everyone. I didn’t have a strong grip, so when I hit a baseball ball, the bat would just fall out of my hand and fly away, so everyone was guarding me from a little distance. So everyone was guarding me from a distance. Because I had friends who casually cared for me like that, I never thought of myself as having any special disabilities.

Barriers are something that everyone has, whether you are in a wheelchair or not, able-bodied or disabled. If you are in an environment where you are blessed with all kinds of things, you will not make any effort, will not be creative, and will not think.

Finally, we asked Ikezaki about his dreams for the future.

Of course I want to win a gold medal at the next Rugby World Championships in Los Angeles. I would also like to build a gymnasium where the team can practice and where fans can casually watch the games and interact with the players so that everyone can enjoy wheelchair rugby.

From the November 15 , 2024 issue of FRIDAY