Following the success of IBSA’s regional blind football championships in the Americas (2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto, Canada) and Europe (IBSA Blind Football European Championships in Hereford, England), the action moves east to Tokyo this week.

Caption: pitch preparations are completed in Tokyo.

The IBSA Blind Football Asian Championships kick off today in the Japanese capital, with six teams competing for the title and the chance to qualify for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The tournament takes place at the same venue as last year's highly successful World Championships.

Japan, Korea, China, Iran, Malaysia and India play a round-robin group stage over five days before the deciding matches on Monday September 7th. In addition to qualifying for the final, the top two teams win a Rio 2016 slot.

China will be looking to defend the Asian title it won on home soil in 2013 and take part in the Paralympic Games for the third consecutive time. The Chinese will face tough competition from Iran, who defeated them to come fifth at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Hosts Japan will be looking to go one step better than its second-place finish in 2013, while Korea will be in the mix.

Malaysia is taking part in the Asian championships for the first time since finishing fourth in 2009, and India is participating for the very first time, demonstrating the growth in the game worldwide.

Caption: screen grab of the Indian team lining up to face Korea in the opening march of the championships.

Click here to follow all the action via the live streaming, which will show all 18 matches, or keep updated via the IBSA Blind Football Facebook page.

For those who read Japanese, visit the official web site of the championships.

The match schedule for the IBSA Blind Football Asian Championships is as follows:
   
Wednesday September 2nd
14:30 India vs Korea
17:30 Malaysia vs Iran
19:30 Japan vs China

Thursday September 3rd
14:30 Malaysia vs India
17:30 China vs Korea
19:30 Iran vs Japan

Friday September 4th
14:30 China vs Malaysia
17:30 Iran vs India
19:30 Korea vs Japan

Saturday September 5th
14:30 Iran vs China
17:30 Japan vs India
19:30 Korea vs Malaysia

Sunday September 6th
14:30 India vs China
17:30 Korea vs Iran
19:30 Japan vs Malaysia

Monday September 7th
14:30 5th-6th place play-off
17:00 3rd-4th place play-off
19:00 Final

Caption; banner for the IBSA Blind Football Asian Championships.