Smith cements position as World No1 ahead of Rio

Britain’s David Smith OBE has cemented his position as world number one ahead of the World Boccia Championships in Rio in December.

The Eastleigh talent – who now lives in Swansea – was unbeaten at the Rome World Boccia Challenger. Facing the newly classified John Loung from Hong Kong in the final, Smith claimed a 9-2 victory:

“I’ve known Loung for a long time. He used to be a BC2 and he’s a good competitor. He plays in the Hong Kong BC1/2 Team event too which is very strong," says Smith. "For me, he’s a very solid BC1 just in the same way as Daniel Perez and Huadpradit. I enjoy playing them all. I was able to stretch away towards the end in Rome but he’s one to definitely keep an eye on at the Worlds in two months’ time.”

Claire Taggart was also able to continue adding to her medal collection, sealing an 8-2 victory in the BC2 bronze medal match over Sona Aghayeva of Azerbaijan. The world number two from Larne in Northern Ireland is relishing the introduction of female-only events and recent success augurs well for the World Championships.

Greg Baker – Boccia UK’s new Performance Director – travelled to Rome and was able to see the team in competitive action for the first time:

“It was great to see the athletes compete as they prepare for the World Championships in December. We had several challenges in which the athletes showed great resilience and strength to overcome, especially with the heat management. We had some very promising performances that we can take forwards to the Worlds with us.

“All the athletes, coaches and support staff worked incredibly hard and all showed fantastic commitment. Of course, there is still work to be done as we prepare for the Worlds, but overall it was a very positive experience that we can learn and reflect from as we move forwards to Rio.”

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Outside of the medals. Fiona Muirhead of Lanarkshire, who is relatively new to international competition, was able to claim two wins in her BC4 pool matches before being eliminated by world number one Michaela Balcova of Slovakia.

Meanwhile, fellow BC4 Stephen McGuire won his play off, securing him a place in the quarter-finals. However, he was withdrawn on medical grounds due to the hot conditions. But he was still able to draw positives from the tournament following major surgery earlier this year:

“The sharpness has begun to return to my play which bodes well for the lead into the World Championships.”

In the BC3 category, Will Arnott and Patrick Wilson both made an exit at the playoff stages, denying them a spot in the quarter-finals. 

Will Hipwell and Robyn McBride, in the BC2 and BC3 categories respectively, both claimed wins in their pool matches but it just wasn’t enough to secure passage into the knockout stages.

In the Team and Pairs, the BC1/2 Team and the BC4 Pairs were both eliminated at the quarter-final stages.

The BC1/2 Team – featuring David Smith, Claire Taggart and Will Hipwell – was defeated 2-6 by France.

Smith explains:

“I was a bit disappointed with our performance in the Team event – we've come away with a few things to work on. We didn’t take our chances apart from in the Spain game when they gave us plenty of opportunity to maximise and we did to an extent. But you have to take your chances at this level.

The BC4 Pairs were beaten by Thailand but Lanarkshire pair Stephen McGuire and Fiona Muirhead quickly made amends by triumphing over Germany 6-1. But a place on the podium for Britain was stopped by Azerbaijan who took a tiebreak victory.

The BC3 Pairs – made up of Patrick Wilson and Robyn McBride - suffered defeat to Turkey before they were forced to forfeit their second match against India at half-time. This was again due to the hot conditions and Wilson requiring medical attention.