A group of war survivors who struggle to raise funds for their sport represent Bosnia's best chance of glory in Athens.

　　September's Paralympics, rather than next month's Olympics, will be the focus of attention for Bosnia when the national sitting volleyball team - by far the most successful sports side in the Balkan country - set out to complete their collection of gold medals.

　　The title in Athens would cap an extraordinary decade for the team formed in Sarajevo during the Serb siege in which 10,000 people died and another 60,000 were wounded.

　　Already world and European champions and silver medalists behind the long-dominant Iranians at the Sydney Paralympics four years ago, the volleyball team represent a remarkable success story in the impoverished country, where even professional sports struggle for support.

　　All the current national team players suffered injuries in the Bosnian 1992-95 war, either as soldiers or civilians.

　　Their success has been a huge reward for the efforts of national coach Mirza Hrustemovic, a pioneer of the sport.

　　Soon after the start of the war, in which 200,000 people were killed, Hrustemovic and colleagues visited Sarajevo centers where soldiers with serious injuries were under rehabilitation.

　　"Most of them had never heard of this sport and we tried to explain that it can offer some kind of help in their rehabilitation, physical and psychological," Hrustemovics said.

　　Players in the six-a-side sport sit on the floor of a court, which is smaller than in conventional volleyball and has a lower net.

　　Hrustemovic, 45 and a victim of infantile paralysis, won three championship titles with club Sportsko Invalidsko Drustvo in the former Yugoslavia and played for the Yugoslav national team.

　　Under Hrustemovic, Bosnia dismissed Sydney champions Iran in the semi-final of the world championship in Egypt in 2002, en route to victory over Germany in the final.

　　"We ended (Iran's) unbeaten run of 17 years in Egypt and now we are going for the only title we don't have - gold at the Paralympic Games," said team captain Sabahudin Delalic, 31, who lost his right leg fighting Serb forces around Sarajevo.

　　Only three other disabled Bosnian athletes will travel to the September 17-28 Athens Games. Up to 12 Bosnians will compete in next month's Olympic Games in the Greek capital but their chances of medals are slim.

　　(Reuters)