Five medals for GB in Finland

 British boccia starts made a solid start to the 2026 season, winning five medals at the Boccia Challenger Finland.

Both David Smith OBE – Britain’s best ever boccia athlete – and Stephen McGuire MBC, Paralympic gold medallist, won gold in the individuals.

McGuire, from Lanarkshire, remained undefeated in Finland, winning the final on a tense tiebreak to Andrii Okulov of Ukraine. The world number one said:

“Winning gold in the opening event of the season is a fantastic way to start 2026. It gives me a lot of confidence moving forward. It’s been a positive week in testing new equipment, continuing to work on tactics and putting all the work from winter training into competition, where you’re put under pressure.

“There’s still a long season ahead though, with the Astana World Cup in Kazakhstan only two weeks away. The focus now is building on consistency, improving with each event, and being in the best possible shape for the World Championships in Seoul this August.”

Smith is also keen to put a marker down for his opponents this year, as he and his team-mates gear up for the World Championships in July:

“The start of this season confirmed that I’ve been doing the right training over winter. Lots of scenarios cropped up that I’ve been preparing for and so I had the confidence to exploit those situations.

“I can now relax a bit and I’m looking forward to playing a bit more freely at the Astana World Cup in Kazakhstan next month. I won’t be changing any approaches in my game though – it’s just about resetting and taking my execution and risk-taking a bit further,” explained the Swansea player.

DAVID SMITH WON GOLD IN THE 2026 SEASON OPENER IN FINLAND - CREDIT: ESSI KULTANEN

Smith went on to win a second silver with the Team, alongside Ayr’s Kayleigh Brown and London’s Reshad Saraj:

It was the first tournament back for Brown. She stepped away from the court last July after winning bronze at the European Championships, before welcoming baby Klay in October.

And she certainly made a definitive comeback, winning silver in the individuals, after losing to world number seven Chantal Van Engelen in the finals:

“I’m really pleased, my goal was to enjoy the competition so to medal twice was a bonus. It was challenging at times especially if I could hear Klay crying when I was on court but Sophie and Kev made the perfect support team and I couldn’t have done it without them.”

KAYLEIGH BROWN WITH BABY KLAY - SHE WINS SILVER IN FINLAND

Adding to the haul for Great Britain, European Champion Sally Kidson bagged bronze in the BC3 women’s category.

Outside of the medals, Louis Saunders from Surrey put in some solid performances, narrowly losing in the quarter-finals to world number five Artem Kolinko.

Lanarkshire’s Fiona Muirhead played in a round robin format, and while she didn’t medal, she was able to score points against tough opponents, including world number 12, Natalia Konenko.