GB win third medal at World Championships

Great Britain return home with a third medal from the World Boccia Championships in Rio. The BC1/2 Team yesterday secured silver after a nail-biting final with South Korea.

GB’s Bc1/2 team win silver at the world championships

The GB trio – David Smith OBE, Claire Taggart and Will Hipwell - led for the first half of the match, overpowering the Koreans 3-0. But danger came in the fourth end when the opposition levelled to 4-4 and then took a two-point lead in the fifth. A fantastic shot, right onto the GB jack, by Taggart, ensured Great Britain would win the final end but the Koreans successfully created a barrier to prevent the Brits scoring any further points.

Earlier in the day, the Team cruised through the semi-final with Argentina, sending the scoreline rocketing to 10-1.

It’s the first time that Great Britain has appeared in three World Championships finals. Claire Taggart made history by becoming the first female to win the BC2 women’s World Championship title since the male and female individual events have been separated:

“I’m delighted to be coming home as World Champion. I didn’t expect it at all. It’s been an amazing Championships. And to add a second medal in the Team is incredible. I’m so proud of David, Will and also Sarah and Tom, our coaches.

“Paris 2024 is under two years away now and it’s exciting going into it as World Champion but it’s not time to get complacent or look beyond next year. We’ll focus on the events coming round including the Europeans and aiming to qualify for Paralympics with the Team. Paris looks great and I can’t wait to fight the journey to get there.”

And David Smith OBE may have lost his world title but he returns home with two silver medals and all-important ranking points for Paris 2024.

“We had a really good tournament and we (the Team) finished a lot higher than we were expecting coming into this but actually we are all a little bit deflated because we had a chance to win that game. To be so close is gutting, frankly. But we’ve done really well in the whole in this tournament so that’s a positive.”

It was Will Hipwell’s first medal at a major event, outside of World Cup tournaments:

“It feels fantastic to medal at a World Championships, considering that as a Team in the last World Championships in 2018 we didn’t make it out of the group stage. So it feels good to have achieved playing in the final and getting on the podium.”

Performance Director Greg Baker is thrilled with the squad’s performances:

“This World Championships in Rio has truly shown the strength in depth internationally in all classifications in Boccia. Nevertheless, the Great Britain squad has performed to high levels, bringing back three medals and some other fantastic performances across the squad. We have beaten top level opposition and players inside the top five ranked positions in the world. This will give us a platform to build on for the future as we try and increase our strength in depth and breadth across the world class programme. We have an exciting future ahead of us as we head into 2023 for Paris qualification and we want to keep improving as a squad. 

“Other countries will come back even stronger in future events and so it’s our priority to keep learning, developing and being committed to being better. I want to say a big thank you to all the athletes, coaches, support staff and assistants for what has been a long and hard couple of weeks. Their work is outstanding and we have shown great collective togetherness which is important for our culture. 

“With three finals, one gold medal and two silver medals, we have certainly put Boccia UK on the map, and we absolutely want to stay there. It’s now time to reflect, debrief and rest during the Christmas period and then start getting ready for what will be another busy year in 2023.”