The Chinese women's team of wheelchair basketball. [Photo/WeChat account: hangzhouwangbbs]

The 4th Hangzhou Asian Para Games commenced at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium at 9:30 am on Oct 19 with the women's wheelchair basketball heat between the teams of Laos and Cambodia.

Wheelchair basketball is the inaugural sport of this year's Asian Para Games, with competitions running from Oct 19 to 27 to decide the winners of both the women's and men's events.

Wheelchair basketball dates back to the 1940s, when it was conceived as a rehabilitative activity for veterans with injuries, organized under the leadership of Ludwig Guttmann, the founder of the Paralympic Games.

The wheelchair-adapted form of basketball made its Paralympic debut in 1960 at the first Rome Paralympic Games and has remained a staple ever since. Women's wheelchair basketball was added during the Tel Aviv Paralympic Games in 1968.

Wheelchair basketball is a highly competitive discipline, notable for the fact that players compete on the basketball court while seated in wheelchairs. The sport is exclusively open to athletes with lower limb amputations, polio, or spinal cord injuries.

On the court, players rely on their wheelchairs for mobility while seamlessly executing passing, defense, and shooting maneuvers. It's a high-impact sport with frequent chair collisions, delivering intense competition and offering a thrilling viewing experience for spectators.

A Chinese player prepares to shoot. [Photo/WeChat account: hangzhouwangbbs]