The Great British Boccia Championships took place on the 8th and 9th of May 2014 at the Robin Park Arena, Wigan.

Having qualified from the National Finals, Alex (BC1 Bronze) and Reshad (BC2 Silver) travelled up to Wigan to represent PACE. This is the second time Alex has qualified for the GB Championships and he was joined by Reshad making his first appearance at this competition.

With all the group games on the first day, both athletes worked incredibly hard to maintain their energy levels and concentration from 9am through to 6pm.

Reshad had an incredibly tough group, featuring Scottish International Joshua Rowe, England International David Hill and Irish International William Graham. Reshad started off well with a win against William but unfortunately, was unable to maintain his momentum going into the next games with David and Joshua. Despite playing well against top athletes, Reshad was unable to qualify from his group into the knockout stages of the competition.

Following all of the group games, Reshad had a 7/8th playoff against Paralympic Gold Medallist, Dan Bentley. Having been beaten by Dan in the National Finals, Reshad was determined to better his result and took advantage of a misplaced shot by Dan, before switching to defensive tactics. This resulted in Reshad winning the match 6-3 and finishing the competition in 7th place, well done! After the competition, Reshad said…

After what I’ve achieved, it’s been a year to remember. I’m really looking forward to what next year could hold. As always, I couldn’t have done this without the support from my mum, Sunil, Andrea and Krishna and what they have all taught me.

Alex had a slightly smaller group that featured the current World Number 1, David Smith, as well as Reegan Stevenson. Alex also started off well with a win against Reegan in his opening game. A bit of luck was needed to top this group and Alex got that when David was unable to compete the second group game, resulting in an automatic victory for Alex.

After he qualified from his group, Alex had another semi-final fixture against Rhodri Tudor which resulted in another victory, leading to a GB Championships BC1 Final with David Smith, the World #1. Unfortunately, David was in fantastic form in the final and won comfortably to add another trophy to his collection. However, this has been one of the most impressive seasons for Alex, who claimed Gold at the London Regionals, Bronze at the National Finals and Silver at the GB Championships. A fantastic achievement for the PACE Boccia captain. After the competition, Alex brought his trophy in to PACE to show and said…

I’m pleased that I got a trophy, was a bit disappointed about the final though because I’ve had closer games with David before. Thank you to everybody who has supported me with this achievement.

Both athletes have performed fantastically well throughout the Regionals, Nationals and GB Championship competitions this season, beating International and Paralympic athletes along the way. Their success really is a fantastic achievement for them, and for PACE Boccia. Following the competition, the athlete’s coach, Sunil said…

Both athletes have exceeded their targets, I’m incredibly proud of the way they’ve performed and conducted themselves this season. I know there’s more to come from both of them and we’re already all looking forwards to next year.

 

 

Reshad lines up

Alex claims BC1 silver at the GB Championships