Larne’s Claire Taggart is next month returning to the city where she won her first-ever World Cup gold medal.

Last year in Povoa, Portugal was a breakthrough moment for the Northern Ireland boccia star who went on to become World Champion five months later and has reigned as world number one in the rankings ever since. In fact, she cemented her position as the BC2 to beat by winning her second World Cup last month, in Brazil.

Taggart is delighted to head back. This time though, she will only be playing as part of the Team, having already used her allocation of events this year:

claire won her first world cup gold in povoa

“Povoa is a stalwart tournament in the boccia season – we compete there every year. It’s a great location and a firm favourite of mine. It is of course where I won my first World Cup last year. I’m really looking forward to playing as part of the Team event and against the top boccia nations in the world.”

Indeed, the 2022 Povoa World Cup was a golden moment for the BC1/2 Team featuring Taggart, David Smith OBE and Will Hipwell.

Smith – Britain’s best ever boccia player – described winning Team gold as a career highlight:

“We had gone into 2022 with the aim of moving up the rankings, slowly improving to the top four. Winning gold in Povoa was certainly a fantastic stepping stone and we went on to win silver at the World Championships a month later.

“We now have less than a year to go until Paris and we need to qualify so we’re focussing on our consistency, shot after shot, which will help us be brave with our shots and decisions.”

This year, however, they will be missing Hipwell, their usual middle man, who is replaced by Kayleigh Haggo. She is a relative newcomer to the World Class Programme but the Scot – who has six framerunning world records to her name – has learnt incredibly fast and is thrilled to be competing both individually and as part of the team in Portugal:

“I can’t wait to compete in Povoa. I have been training lots and learnt so much since my last competition. I’m looking forward to putting everything into practice. It’s always good fun working alongside David and Claire too,” said Kayleigh,

Edinburgh’s Patrick Wilson will also be returning to court after success last month in Brazil. The BC3 player saw a return to form which took him all the way to seizing silver at the Fortaleza World Cup.

In the BC4s, Stephen McGuire from Hamilton and Louis Saunders from Bognor Regis will also be aiming to impress. Saunders, 21, will no doubt have a boost of confidence having beaten world number one Euclides Grisales from Columbia to reach the quarter-final in Fortaleza.

BC1 Male David Smith (Individual & TAP). Assistant Sarah Nolan

BC2 Female Kayleigh Haggo (Individual & TAP). Assistant Kevin Brown

BC2 Female Claire Taggart (TAP). Assistant Stevie Taggart

BC3 Male Patrick Wilson (Individual). Assistant Meredith Greenwood

BC4 Male Stephen McGuire (Individual). Assistant Chris Owen

BC4 Male Louis Saunders (Individual). Assistant Steve Richards