David Smith OBE and Claire Taggart - both fresh from winning British titles this weekend - have both been named in Great Britain's 9-strong boccia squad for the 2022 World Boccia Championships in Rio de Janeiro from 3-14 December.

Smith (from Eastleigh, but lives in Swansea) became Britain’s most successful boccia player of all time when he claimed his third Paralympic gold medal in Tokyo. He is also reigning World Champion and will be aiming to retain the title he won in Liverpool in 2018.

David Smith on his way to winning gold at the Rome Challenger last month

“The Worlds and the Paralympics are the big events for us in the calendar. In terms of ranking points, it has a big impact so it’s important as we lead into Paris 2024. And it’s also important in terms of National Lottery funding.”

Claire Taggart from Larne in Northern Ireland is also a tournament favourite, currently sitting in the world number two spot of the women’s BC2 rankings. She has impressed on the World Cup circuit this year, claiming two gold medals in Povoa after winning the individual BC2 event and the Team event with David Smith and Will Hipwell.

This will be the first time in the history of World Boccia Championships that women will play in a separate individual competition to the men.

“Previously, I would have played against the men but World Boccia at the back end of last year introduced separate individual competitions for men and women. I’m really hoping this will drive participation among women and girls in the sport. It’s an exciting prospect because we now have more medal opportunities as a team,” says Taggart.

Claire Taggart heads to Rio as World number two

They will be joined by four other Paralympians Will Hipwell (Cambridge), Patrick Wilson (Edinburgh), Stephen McGuire (Lanarkshire) and Louis Saunders (Bognor Regis).

New faces in the squad complete the line-up. Will Arnott (Reading) and Robyn McBride (Belfast). cemented their positions in the team after winning a silver and bronze medal respectively in Veldhoven. The duo went on to win a silver medal in the Pairs event.

Fiona Muirhead (Lanarkshire) has also featured for Great Britain in recent tournaments and is growing in experience and confidence in every competition.

Boccia UK Performance Director Greg Baker said:

The World Championships in Rio give us a great opportunity to see where we are with the rest of the world as we get closer to Paris 2024. It will also be a great opportunity for our athletes to gain important ranking points towards Paris qualification.

“It will certainly be our toughest test since the Tokyo 2020 Games and the team is confident they can take positive performances from International Challenger events and World Cups this year into the Worlds. The athletes have shown their competitiveness across the world stage this year and are excited to take this momentum into Rio. Likewise, it's a chance for all the athletes and staff to take stock, understand where we are as a programme and understand where we need to get to with Paris 2024 fast approaching.”

The Brits will be joined by athletes from around 30 nations and they will descend on Rio to battle it out for World titles as well as ranking points ahead of the Paris Paralympics in 2024.

BC1 Male

David Smith supported by Sarah Nolan

BC2 Male

Will Hipwell supported by Nick Hipwell (tbc)

BC2 Female

Claire Taggart supported by Stevie Taggart

BC3 Male

Patrick Wilson supported by Meredith Greenwood

Will Arnott supported by Connor Wellfare

BC3 Female

Robyn McBride supported by Davy McBride

BC4 Male