7 BRITS INTO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP KNOCK OUTS

The British boccia squad has had a brilliant start to the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro with seven players going through to knock-out rounds.

Three-time gold medallist David Smith OBE from Eastleigh – now living in Swansea - is defending his World Championship title. And it’s certainly going to plan for the BC1 player. Day one saw Smith overcome Spain’s Serafin Rodriguez 6-1 before today beating Dohyun Kim of South Korea. He is now into tomorrow’s quarter finals,

david smith obe

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s Claire Taggart is also progressing well. The World number two from Larne delivered a masterclass on day one, beating Greece’s Dionysia Tsakiri 12-0. She followed up with a second win in her BC2 group, overcoming Hungary’s Vivien Nagy 9-1. Like Smith, she too now prepares for tomorrow’s quarter final.

Robyn McBride – also of Northern Ireland – has also impressed the international boccia circuit. She is a relative newcomer to the British squad and the World Class Programme, supported by UK Sport, but she has defeated two players ranked above her in her BC3 pool matches. Day one saw the Antrim player triumph over Thailand’s Ladamanee Kia-Han who is currently world number four. And proving her success was not just a flash in the pan, she subsequently beat the Czech Republic’s Marcela Cermakova, who is world number 12.

robyn mcbride

Elsewhere in the BC3s, Patrick Wilson from Edinburgh also has two wins under his belt. He was able to take a 5-2 win over Portugal’s Jose Goncalves, who currently sits in the number three spot of the world rankings, before going on to a 4-2 victory over Australia’s Spencer Cotie.

Will Arnott of Reading also joined in Britain’s celebrations, claiming a 6-1 win over former World Champion Hansoo Kim of Korea. He played his second pool match today, losing 1-8 to Akkadej Choochuenklin of Thailand. But he has earned a place in the last 16 and faces team-mate Wilson, guaranteeing Britain a player in the BC3 Men’s quarter-final.

Louis Saunders – who studies in Brighton - has also performed well in Rio, winning his two pool matches. The 21-year-old beat world number five Davor Komar of Croatia 5-3 before a tight 4-3 victory over Germany’s Boris Nicolai, who is ranked world number 10. Into the last 16, Saunders was just unable to take the lead against world number three Euclides Grisales,

louis saunders

"It was brilliant to win those two pool matches,” said Saunders. “Davor and Boris are both fantastic boccia players and both the games were really, really tight. I had to keep my concentration up throughout both the games so it was brilliant to get over the line and win them. Grisales is a top player – he finished second at the World Championships in Liverpool. It was a good game and I really enjoyed the challenge of what was a big, knockout game,”

Fiona Muirhead

Lanarkshire’s Fiona Muirhead may have lost her opening BC4 match to the highly ranked Yuen Cheung of Hong Kong but she made a comeback to defeat Slovenia’s Natasa Bartol 7-2 to win her place in the last 16, She was unable to progress further and was eliminated by Hungary’s Alexandra Szabo.

Cambridge’s Will Hipwell will now be looking ahead to the Team event after suffering defeat in his pool matches – losing 1-11 to Netherlands’ Bernd Meints, 0-16 to world number one Maciel Santos of Brazil and 1-7 to Minkyu Kwak of South Korea.

And it was heartbreak for Scotland’s Stephen McGuire who earlier this year underwent major surgery after he broke his knee and femur. He lost 2-4 to Kwan Hang Wong of Hong Kong 2-4 and then yesterday lost 1-5 to Edilson Chica Chica:

"I'm obviously disappointed with my results here in Rio. It's been a huge task to get here given the year of injuries. I'm proud in many ways and thankful for all the support to get me on the start line. The British squad are performing amazingly well so far and I look forward to supporting them.

"The Pairs competition begins in a few days which gives me time to refocus and recover."