Player in firing line for his abilities

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www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/player-in-firing-line-for-his-abilities-20120818-24f4e.html

Ryley Batt is good at what he does. So good in fact that he is regarded as the best wheelchair rugby player in the world.
That means he is targeted, not only on the court, but off it, especially when a major tournament is within sight.

So in the lead-up to the London Paralympics, questions have again been raised about whether he is too good - or to use the crude but blunt terms of the inquisitors, whether his disability was severe enough - to be playing the game.

Batt was born without legs and no webbing on his hands, with an operation leaving him with four fingers. But some former players and commentators question whether the muscular 23-year-old can do too much with his body compared with other players, many of whom have spinal cord injuries.

His speed, manoeuvrability and reach on the court make him the most dangerous attacking player in the world and his resume´ includes a host of most valuable player awards from international competitions, including the 2010 world championships. To beat Australia, opponents know that they have to shut down Batt, but some say he makes too much of a difference.

Wheelchair rugby was invented in the 1970s as an alternative to wheelchair basketball for people with spinal cord injuries who had less hand and arm movement.

Instead of shooting the ball through a hoop, the objective is to carry a volleyball over a goal-line. There are four players in a team, who can be a mix of men and women. Each team member is given a score of 0.5 to 3.5 based on their level of impairment, with the combined scores of the team not allowed to exceed eight points.

Batt, who has the maximum 3.5 disability score, said the comments came from ''jealous people''. He said he faced similar comments before the 2010 world championships.
''There's no such thing as too good for a sport,'' Batt said. ''You look at Usain Bolt at the moment, is he too good for the 100 metre sprint ? No he's just worked his arse off. I've been playing the sport for 10 years now and there's definitely other people out there who do the exact same thing as me. They just don't have the team behind them to make them look as good.''
Batt said the best tactic was to ignore his detractors.
''They try and bait you into something and try and get you reacting and the best thing I can do if they try to hook me is just not take the bait,'' he said.

Wheelchair rugby has developed rapidly over the past decade, and players have become stronger, faster and more skilful. One of the crowd-pleasing aspects is its brutality - reflected in its original name, Murderball - where players use reinforced and modified wheelchairs to provoke collisions with their opponents.

The Australian team won silver at the 2008 Paralympics and the 2010 world championships, losing to America in gold medal games both times. Australian coach Brad Dubberley, who played for Australia at the Sydney and Athens Paralympics and was himself rated a 3.5 ability, believed Batt was classified too harshly.
''He should be a three-pointer not a 3.5. To be the best athlete in the world you always work on things to take yourself to the next level which he has done,'' Dubberley said.

''He was born like that, so that's something I guess he's had the advantage of knowing his body so well, but you look at Usain Bolt, Lebron James, any top athlete in the world … They work hard and Ryley is no different.''