Four players into quarter-finals

Tomorrow, Great Britain’s boccia stars are into the quarter-finals of the World Championships. Stephen McGuire MBE, David Smith OBE, Sophie Newnham and Sally Kidson are all into the business end of their medal campaigns in Seoul.

We caught up with Head Coach Rikki Bingham for a quick update…

Seven out of eight athletes escaped the pool

“Everyone progressed from the pool stages barring Reshad Saraj who went out in a very tight match against Marko Dekker from Netherlands. He will be focused now on preparing for the team event starting on 1st September. David, Steph, Sophie and Sally are all progressing through to Sunday’s quarter finals,” said Rikki.

reshad saraj now gearing up for team event

Kayleigh, Louis and Patrick denied a place in the quarters

“Kayleigh went out in a high scoring match where the scoreline switched end to end, but unfortunately she was defeated. But a good result in her first World Champs and only 10 months post partum.

“Louis had a very tight match against Radek from Czech Republic with neither player able to score more than 1 point in each end, however ultimately he could not beat the world ranked no. 5.

“Paddy went out to Carvalho from Brazil. This was a very evenly matched match with the players ranked 10 & 11 in the world. Carvalho took a 3 point lead in the first end and added another to that in the second. Paddy came back strong in the 3rd & 4th ends but unfortunately could not get more than one point on each end.”

patrick comes back strong but denied passage to quarter finals

Smithy overcomes tricky start

“David Smith was the first athlete through to the quarters. After a challenging lead in - with his chair breaking and a last minute repair - he pulled out a classy performance against Tan (Singapore) with a very convincing 5-1 win. Tomorrow, he meets Jung (KOR) - the Paralympic silver medallist.”

Stephen gears up for tough test

“Stephen McGuire was up against Zheng which was going to be a very tough match. Steph had the upper hand from the first end and, whilst Zheng got some back in the last end, it wasn't enough. Steph moves on to play Leung (Hong Kong) the world ranked number 2 so we're expecting another exciting and close match.”

stephen to face yuk wing leung in quarters

Sophie shows class

“Sophie' Newnham’s knockout was against Abdullaeva (UZB) - she was world class, not conceding a point in this match. This was Sophie's second match of the day, having to play her final pool match earlier in the day. In the same round, the Paralympic gold and bronze medallists along with the world number one were all surprisingly knocked out. Sophie has a tough match against Noor (MAS) which again promises to be an exciting and close match.”

Clean sheet Sally finally concedes a point

“Sally Kidson beat Owczarz (POL) to secure her place in the last eight. She had secured her win within three ends scoring seven points. She conceded her first point of the tournament in the last end having had clean sheets against her opponents in the pool. Like Sophie, this was Sally's second match of the day having had her final pool match this morning. Tomorrow she faces the world number two and the only other remaining European, Papadopoulos (GRE).”

sally conceded just one point so far in seoul