Category: Boccia

Stephen McGuire and Fiona Muirhead with Gold medals and trophy after winning BC4 pairs at the 2023 Heraklion Challenger. Behind them are the coaches, holding a GBR flag.

Top Moments of Boccia in 2023

2023 gave us plenty to cheer about! Here’s a shortlist of some of those top moments.

By Emma Logan, Communications Manager

SCOTS DOMINATE BC4s AT UK CHAMPS

It was a 1-2 for the Scots in Warwick as McGuire and McLelland faced off at the UK Championships.

It was redemption for Stephen McGuire who sealed BC4 gold after settling for bronze at last year’s meet. In the Scottish gold medal final, the experienced McGuire faced off rising star, Tyler McLelland. The youngster gave McGuire a good fight but was unable to stop McGuire’s winning ways.

The Scots also found the podium in the BC3 category, with a bronze by Edinburgh’s Patrick Wilson. Wilson rode that medal momentum into the following World Cup (in Fortaleza) where he bettered his performance, winning a silver with ramp assistant Meredith Greenwood. He last made a World Cup podium in 2019, so he should be feeling confident heading into 2024.

 

MEDAL MOMENTUM FOR DYNAMIC DUO

Stephen McGuire was no stranger to the podium in the pairs competition, as he found great success alongside Fiona Muirhead.

After joining the Boccia UK squad in 2022, Muirhead has gone from strength to strength, just like her partnership with McGuire. The Lanarkshire duo clinched bronze with a 3-1 over Colombia at the Montreal World Cup, in the BC4 pairs. It was another medal to McGuire’s collection but a first-ever World Cup medal for Muirhead and certainly, not her last.

The pair climbed the podium to seal silver in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) at the European Championships.

Continuing their medal momentum, McGuire and Muirhead claimed gold in style at the Heraklion Challenger in Crete. The BC4 pair were undefeated across all four games, closing the season on a high.

 

FIFE’S RISING STAR

2023 was a momentous year for Fife’s Tyler McLelland, as he was selected to be part of Boccia UK’s first ever Talent Transition Squad.

McLelland was one of four players selected, who will be exposed to more international competitions as well as attending training camps alongside some of Great Britain’s top boccia players.

The 17 year-old is part of the Scottish Boccia Squad and is coached by Claire Morrison. He got people’s attention and demonstrated his potential when he won his debut individual international match in 2022.

He has continued to excel in boccia throughout 2023, a major sporting highlight for McLelland being winning pairs gold with Sophie Newnham (from England) at the World Youth Championships. The future looks very bright for this young man.

 

BOCCIA DEVELOPMENT

As the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games fast approach, great headway has been made in the sport’s development.

In 2023, weekly training sessions were launched at The Peak, in Stirling. Coaches from Boccia UK and Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) lead the coached sessions for both GB and Scottish athletes.

“The sessions in Stirling provide a great opportunity for GB and Scottish athletes and coaches to work together, support and learn from each other. Many boccia athletes tend to train on their own so to be able to bring everyone together on a weekly basis definitely helps to push us all on”, said Claire Morrison, boccia coach.

In addition, Alloa now hosts a bimonthly Scottish Squad session.

(If you would like to find out more and get involved, please email SDS at: admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com or call 0131 3171130.)

 

MEMORABLE MENTIONS

Shoutout to Ross and Stewart McNeil (ramp operator) who took silver at the Boccia England Team and Pairs competition. Paired with Cecilia Turk and ramp operator, Mervyn Turk (England), the duo came second in the BC3 category.

2023 was littered with strong performances from Kayleigh Haggo.

Haggo, who joined the World Class Programme at the beginning of the year, was part of Team Great Britain’s bronze performance at the Montreal World Cup. They beat Japan 5-3 but went out to the gold medallists, South Korea, conceding 5-7.

Despite not reaching the podium, Haggo left quite the impression at the Heraklion Challenger. She enters 2024, brimming with potential.

 

More Success for McGuire at World Level

The Hong Kong World Boccia Open concluded with the Team and Pairs events over the weekend and there were three Scots representing Boccia UK, which is an important milestone in their preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. 

The three Scots in action are: Jamie McCowan (BC3), Patrick Wilson (BC3) and Stephen McGuire (BC4), whilst we are also fortunate to have Claire Morrison form part of the coaching team.   

Former World Champion and two time Paralympian, Stephen McGuire, teamed up with Evie Edwards and Louis Saunders for the BC4 Pairs competition, as they looked to put a marker down a year out from Tokyo 2020.   

They started the group with a narrow 4-6 defeat to Brazil meaning there was no room for error if they wanted to progress.  Fortunately, the rallied well to record back-to-back victories against Croatia (5-1) and Thailand (4-1), setting up a semi-final against Hong Kong, who had home advantage.  Although the Brits put in a spirited display, they succumbed to a 1-5 defeat to the hosts.   

McGuire and his BC4 teammates settled for a bronze medal match against China and a chance to complete a very successful competition.  They produced a brilliant performance to win 6-1 and claim their place on the podium!   

Hamilton man, McGuire, finishes the World Open with a gold and a bronze to further affirm his credentials at this level. 

The BC3 pair, saw the two Scots joined by 2012 Paralympian, Jess Hunter, as they cruised through the group stages winning four games from four.  However, they had to overcome Greece on a tie break.  Nevertheless, they set up a semi-final with Thailand and were eventually defeated 0-5.  In the bronze medal match they were faced with the prospect of Australia and were eventually undone 3-5 by the Aussies.  

Great Britain finished the competition with a Gold, Silver and a Bronze medal with the Scottish players proving to be pivotal in their success.  Congratulations! 

Medal Recap 

BC3 Individual
Silver: Patrick Wilson 

BC4 Individual
Gold: Stephen McGuire 

BC4 Pair
Bronze: Stephen McGuire, Luis Saunders & Evie Edwards 

The individual competitions were concluded today, which saw resounding success for Great Britain, and it was the Scottish athletes that provided the goods, as all three were involved in medal matches.   

Stephen McGuire rose from the ashes to scrape through his group on points but manged to battle his way to the final, where he met Yuk Wing Leung (HKG) who had the home advantage.  However, the Hamilton man showed his class and experience by winning 4-1 and claiming Gold medal. 

Patrick Wilson managed the competition well and took some major scalps before reaching his first World level final.  Most notably, he defeated World number one and current World Champion, Grigorios Polychronidis, in the Quarter Final.  In the final itself, he faced World number 3, Daniel Michel (AUS), who has emerged as a real talent as this level.  The match was a close affair, but it ended in defeat for the Peebles man as he lost out 2-4.  Nonetheless, this can be seen as a huge step forward. 

Jamie McCowan won all his matches until the semi-final, where he was defeated by the eventual winner, Daniel Michel (AUS).  He therefore had to settle for a bronze medal match against home player Yuen Kei Ho (HKG), where he eventually lost out 1-3. 

The team and pairs get underway tomorrow and all the action (and live streams) can be followed via http://www.bisfed.com/bisfed-2019-hong-kong-boccia-world-open/