8 Armenian athletes tried the sport in blue and yellow teams. American researchers and Armenian partners delivered 10 experimental sports wheelchairs, which remained in Armenia after the game for further testing.
Yerevan hosted what Sportaran described in its Nov. 1, 2026 article as Armenia’s first wheelchair rugby match. The eight Armenian athletes were all new to the sport and were divided into blue and yellow teams. The equipment gave them an opportunity to try it while helping researchers test a new chair design.
The game lasted four eight-minute quarters, with the blue team scoring first. The final score and winner were not disclosed.
The match had already been described in a 22 September 2026 University of Illinois account by project participant Kaitlyn Thornton, a health and kinesiology doctoral student. Thornton describes a Yerevan gym but does not name the venue or date the match.
Equipment shipped from the United States was held at Armenian customs until the day of the match. Once it was released, the researchers had only a few hours to assemble the chairs from metal components.
Thornton arrived at the gym with the first assembled chair. The remaining chairs reached the venue after 16:00 Yerevan time. Organizers adjusted the chairs to fit the athletes, then led warm-ups involving maneuvering and passing. They used those exercises to divide the players into teams of similar ability before the game.
The wheelchair research is a joint project of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Pittsburgh. Illinois health and kinesiology professor Ian Rice is a project leader.
Thornton describes the chairs as the first game-ready version of an experimental design not available commercially. It draws on kirigami, the Japanese art of making three-dimensional forms from flat materials. Thin metal sheets are laser-cut, bent into shape with metal-bending machines called press brakes, and joined with ordinary hardware-store fasteners.
Thornton places existing rugby wheelchair prices at $8,000–$15,000 and identifies cost as a barrier to participation. Researchers intend the new design to make materials easier to obtain and chairs easier to customize, ship and assemble. They hope those changes will lower costs; the project has not announced an achieved price reduction.
Armenian collaborators worked to install wheel-mounted data recorders to measure force, speed and distance traveled. They plan to assess the chairs’ performance and ease of use, and formally interview athletes about the equipment and their rugby experience. Researchers intend to use those findings to improve the design.
American researchers and Armenian partners brought ten experimental sports wheelchairs to Armenia, and all ten remained there after the event. The researchers hope the chairs will eventually support a wheelchair rugby league. Thornton hopes they can be used for informal games in the meantime. Neither a league launch nor follow-up matches have an announced date.
Wei Yi gains 3 points to 2761, passing Vincent Keymer, unchanged at 2761, who drops to ninth. Challenger Javokhir Sindarov is fourth on 2782, 72 points and 22 places ahead of world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, 26th on 2710, before their title match.
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Portland beats Utah 112–90. Memphis beats Sacramento 136–105 for its best-ever 6–0 start, remaining the NBA’s only unbeaten team. San Antonio beats Minnesota 121–111 behind Victor Wembanyama’s season-high 43 points, Houston beats Oklahoma City 119–98, Cleveland beats Milwaukee 136–111, Philadelphia beats Charlotte 109–104 and New Orleans beats Atlanta 121–99.
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Ri wins with 365 kg—160 kg in the snatch and 205 kg in the clean and jerk. Armenia’s Tigran Karapetyan records no total after missing all snatches, while Gor Sahakyan withdraws injured without attempting a lift.
3 min
