Two out of three Scottish boccia athletes won their matches on Day 2 in Paris.
By Bethany Lee
It was another intense day for ParalympicsGB’s Scottish boccia athletes.
Stephen McGuire continued his winning streak and Kayleigh Haggo was victorious after a nail-bitting game. Patrick Wilson faced a tough match against the current world number one in the BC3 men’s division.
This morning, Stephen McGuire had his second win in the men’s individual BC4 game against Ukraine’s Artemis Kolinko.
He took an immediate lead with strategic shots and confidently closed the game with a 7-1 win.
Stephen said: “Artem is a pairs European champion so he’s a tough opponent. In terms of the structure of the group it was important to get that win so I’m very happy.”
“The dream is to get a medal for Paralympics GB. I’m just going to keep going through the rounds and see where that takes me. There’s less nerves this time out and I think that comes down to experience.”
Today’s win follows Stephen’s victorious 8-0 game yesterday.
He said: “Two wins out of two, I’ve got one group game left so fingers crossed. If I win that one, I’m through and I top the group so that’s my goal.”
Continuing Scotland’s success, Kayleigh Haggo returned to the court for the women’s individual BC2 game against Portugal’s Ana Correia.
After a close start, the fourth end saw Kayleigh secure a sweeping 6-2 win.
Kayleigh said: “I feel amazing. To get the first win, I can’t believe it.
“I’m really happy I’ve used what I’ve learned – I’ve played Ana three times in the last six months and won all three despite her being ranked higher than me. So it gives me a lot of confidence going forward.”
A busy day awaits Kayleigh tomorrow with the women’s individual BC2 quarterfinal.
She said: “I came here with no expectations and no pressure so to get into the quarterfinal would be amazing.”
The day ended with Patrick Wilson’s tough match against Daniel Michel (AUS), number one in the world in men’s BC3.
Australia are favourites in boccia at this year’s Paris 2024 Paralympics, and David is amongst their best competitors.
Despite leading strong with 2 points in the first end, Patrick missed out on the win by 7-2.
“He is the best in the world right now and he had to be at his best to beat me. I’m not out by any means so I come back tomorrow. I could be out tomorrow or be in – anything is possible. I had fun, I had a good time. That is why we come – for that.”
The Paris 2024 Paralympics runs from the 28th August – 8th September. You can follow all the action and find out how the 21 Scottish Para athletes get on by following Scottish Disability Sport on Facebook, X and Instagram .
You can catch all the action on Channel 4. More information here.