Top seeds sail through day one at World Boccia Championships
British medal favourites sailed through their pool matches of day one (Sunday 12 August) of the BISFed 2018 World Boccia Championships. It was a tactical masterclass from BC4 defending champion Stephen McGuire (Scotland) in his second pool match of the day who defeated Vasile Agache 12-0. Earlier in the day, the Scottish player enjoyed a 12-1 victory over Kevin Stokes of USA.
Stephen McGuire, (pictured above) said:
“I didn’t miss a ball in the game against Agache. From start to finish, it was probably the best I’ve ever played. To do so in front of a home crowd with that support was just amazing. Tomorrow, I’ve got one more group game against the second seed in my pool, Ivan Frolov of Russia. The last few matches I’ve played against him have been quite close so I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
David Smith MBE (Swansea/Eastleigh), BC1 Paralympic gold medallist, also enjoyed a straightforward first day, beating Korea’s Sungjoon Jung 9-0. He said:
“I knew he would be a better opponent than his ranking suggested because he is Korean and they are a strong nation. It was tough because we had no previous knowledge of his style of play or tactics. I just had to play sensibly and wait for my chances to score. I have two games tomorrow. One win will be enough to see me through but I want two wins to secure the top spot and the best draw in the last 16.”
Jamie McCowan (South Ayrshire), World no.2 in the BC3 category, roared through both his matches today securing his spot in the last 16. He triumphed over Sweden’s Maria Bjurstrom 7-3 before a close encounter with seasoned player Peter Cilissen of Belgium. Looking ahead tomorrow, he is feeling upbeat. He said:
“I come up against Canadian player Eric Bussiere tomorrow. I’ve played him three times in competition and beat him three times so I am feeling pretty confident. The good thing is I am already through to the next round. It’s a battle now to top the group and get the good seeding.”
Ipswich’s Evie Edwards, meanwhile, won her morning match against Russian player Sergey Safin 6-4. She had spectators gripped in a nailbiting second match against Hyeon Seok Seo. She lost 6-2. She said:
“Although I lost my second match, I played really well today. Sometimes, it doesn’t come off. It was really tight at the end and was ball for ball. I have one more group game left and I still have a chance to go through to the last 16.”
It was a disappointing day for BC1 Ricky Stevenson (Swansea) and BC4 Louis Saunders (Bognor Regis) who were defeated in both their day one pool matches. Claire Taggart also lost her opening match but should take heart from the fact that she held 3-5 against world ranked no.11 Jeongmin Sohn of Korea. Taggart - from Larne, Northern Ireland - is ranked no.25.
Patrick Wilson from Edinburgh featured in the final match of the day. He was unlucky to miss out on a second win of the day when he succumbed to Japan’s Kazuhiro Takahashi in tiebreak.
The BISFed 2018 World Boccia Championships has been made possible thanks to UK Sport’s National Lottery funding through its Major Events Programme.
The main court will be live from Sunday 12 August from 09:00-19:00 BST to Saturday 18 August from 10:30-18:00 BST on the BBC Sport website, Sport app & connected TV.
