The Czech International Boccia Open took place in Prague from the 31 May – 2 June 2019. This event has become a regular opportunity for developing high performance players within the Scottish national boccia programme.
On this occasion, Scottish Disability Sport selected Reegan Stevenson (BC1), Kieran Steer (BC4) and Ross Munro (BC4) to represent Scotland. Lead coach, Jen Barsby ably led the players and their assistants over the weekend. Whilst the aim of the event is to gain success through podium finishes, the opportunity to gain vital experience at this level is paramount. SDS strongly believes in providing international competition opportunities for emerging talent, as this supports their transition to British programmes in the future.
BC1/2 Team Competition
Stevenson competed in the Team event and joined up with Claire Taggart (Boccia UK) and Will Hipwell (Boccia UK) to create a Scotland /GB team. They started the competition well, defeating a combined Czech/Slovak team 7-3. They followed this up with an 8-4 win against the Czechs to sail through the group to set up a semi-final against Slovakia.
In an incredibly close encounter, Stevenson et al sneaked past Slovakia 7-5 to make it through to the final to guarantee a medal, where they will meet the combined Czech/Slovak team that they beat 7-3 in the morning session. After leading 5-4 after four ends, Scotland/GB team lost a five in the fifth making it very difficult to win. The match finished 10-4 but a good silver medal, nonetheless.
BC4 Pairs Competition
2016 Paralympian, Kieran Steer teamed up with Ross Munro for this competition. In the group stage they saw off Germany 4-2, and followed this up with a comfortable 8-4 victory over the Czech Republic. This set up a semi-final with the first choice Czech pair.
After an indifferent start and losing the first end 0-4, Scotland rallied and took three in the second end and a single in the third to tie it 4-4 going into the last. Unfortunately, the Czechs showed the composure on home soil to end up winning 5-4, and the Scots had to settle for a bronze medal playoff against the same German pair they met in the group stages.
The bronze medal match was a cagey affair with both nations claiming a point a piece in the first two ends. Germany took the initiative in the third making the score 2-1 going into the last. They followed this up with a two in the final end to take the bronze medal and take revenge for the group defeat earlier in the day. The Scots finished in fourth place but a had a good competition.
Individual Competition
The rest of the weekend focussed on individual play and all three Scots were in action. In the BC1 competition, Stevenson won one and lost one but secured his place in the quarter final.
Steer won his first match comfortably and narrowly won his second 3-2, before cruising to an 11-1 against Czech Republic’s Koutny to top the group and secure a quarter final place. Munro suffered a narrow 3-4 defeat at the hands of Scmid from the Czech Republic before going on to claim a 7-2 victory against Hubalovski (also Czech Republic). Munro fought back from 0-2 after the first end to claim his first ever victory on international soil! His final match was against Klimko from Slovakia, and the experienced player beat Munro 0-9 to leave him third in the group and unable to progress. This was a good competition for Ross, and we are confident he will take lots of learning from the experience.
Stevenson was first up on finals day where he faced-off against Sandak (Czech). The score was 2-2 going into the final end but Stevenson showed his experience by winning 3-2, in order to progress to the semi-final. Another Czech player (Skopalova) stood in his way of a place in the final and whilst Stevenson played well, he was undone 7-1 and had to settle for a bronze medal match. In this match he came up against another Czech player, Blazkova, whom he defeated in the group stages. He approached the match with confidence but unfortunately, he lost out 1-3 to settle for a fourth place finish.
In the BC4 competition, the experienced Steer came up against the experienced Marcin (Czech Republic) in the quarter final. Steer started sluggishly and lost a four in the first end and ended up being defeated 1-6 to bow out of the competition. Following his return to performance boccia (following a two year break) Kieran can take a lot of positives from the event, particularly, in his emphatic performances in the group stage.
Scottish Disability Sport’s very own Jennifer Barsby coached the players throughout the competition and is heartened by the performances of the players over the weekend. A silver medal for Reegan Stevenson in the Team event and several top performances is testament to that ideology and the experience of this level of tournament will stand the players in good stead going forward.
Next up for Scotland’s top boccia players is the UK Championships which is taking place from the 14 – 16 June in Antrim, Northern Ireland.
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