World number ones out of medal hunt at World Boccia Championships
World number ones, Britain's Stephen McGuire and Thailand's Watcharaphon Vongsa crash out on day three of the BISFed 2018 World Boccia Championships at Exhibition Centre Liverpool.
Stephen McGuire’s hopes to defend his title in front of a home crowd were dashed by Germany’s Boris Nicolai. After the match, he said:
“I’m disappointed not to reach the standards I hit in the group stages. But I credit Boris as he gained court position quickly. I managed to claw my way back into it and although it came down to the last couple of balls, my opponent deserved the win. My focus now switches to the pairs event - we’re feeling confident and we’ll be putting all our energy into securing a medal.”
Nicolai then eliminated World no.9 Eliseu dos Santos of Brazil to reach the semi-finals. It was a brilliant result for the German who arrived in Liverpool ranked 23rd.
Thailand's Watcharaphon Vongsa suffered a second bad day in Liverpool. The BC2 World number one lost his quarter final match to Robert Mezik of Slovakia.
Robert Mezik, said:
“Vongsa was a very difficult opponent, that’s why he is no.1 in the World. I have never beaten him before and it was a good result, especially because I progressed out of the group on points difference.”
Britain’s David Smith MBE and Takumi Nakamura put the audience on tenterhooks on court one in the final match of the day. BC1 World number one, David Smith dropped his first point of the tournament in the second end and despite taking a lead in the third, he was lucky to escape defeat in the fourth to send it to a tiebreak.
David said:
“His tactics made me work hard. I’ve played well all week but sometimes it’s good to win ugly because it is important to battle and dig deep.”
Elsewhere in the BC1s, Daniel Perez defeated old foe Tomas Kral of Slovakia to continue his medal chase.
In the BC3s, Grigorious Polychronidis continued a smooth campaign to claim the World title. An 8-0 win over Canada’s Eric Bussiere set him up to face Aleksander Legostaev which he won 4-3. He now faces Australia’s Daniel Michel in the semi-finals tomorrow morning.
World Boccia: Day three video catch up
The BISFed 2018 World Boccia Championships has been made possible thanks to UK Sport’s National Lottery funding through its Major Events Programme.
The action on court one is being live streamed. It 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.
To find out more about the BISFed 2018 World Boccia Championships, competition schedule, tickets and travel information, visit World Boccia website.
