Rio Paralympic finalists Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid made more British Tennis history today when they guaranteed the first ever British men’s singles champion at the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters, the sport’s year-end championship for the top singles players.

World No.2 Hewett produced what he described as his best performance ever to beat two-time defending champion Joachim Gerard of Belgium 6-0, 6-2 in his men’s semi-final at Loughborough Sport Tennis Centre. Hewett’s win ended Gerard’s 13-match winning streak in the NEC Masters dating back to the first day of the 2014 tournament.

”I’ve had a very tough week, both mentally and physically and to have a performance like that I’m quite shocked to be honest. It’s probably the best match I’ve ever played and to do it at this stage of the season and with today being such a big match and going through to the final, I couldn’t be happier,” said Hewett. “You have days when you just feel unstoppable and today was that day and to have guaranteed a British winner on home soil is very special,”

Hewett’s victory came just over an hour after Rio Paralympic champion Reid reached his second successive NEC Masters final by defeating Japan’s three-time champion Shingo Kunieda 7-5, 6-4.

“I’m really happy with the performance today. It was a close match and Shingo was playing really well, so I’m really glad to come through,” said world No.3 Reid, who came from 5-1 down and later three match point downs to beat Argentina’s world No.1 Gustavo Fernandez in Friday’s last day of round-robin pool matches.

Photo courtesy of the Tennis Foundation

 

St Andrew’s Day (30 November) was a fitting occasion to announce the next 35 Scots, proud to be flying the flag for Team Scotland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. The list includes six past medallists and 21 debutants from the sports of Boxing, Para- Bowls, Shooting, Triathlon and Weightlifting and now join those previously selected in Swimming, Lawn Bowls and Squash.

Para bowler Irene Edgar and her Director, David Thomas make a return to Team Scotland having won silver in Glasgow in the B2/B3 Mixed Pairs. Robert Barr, directed by Sarah Jane Ewing, will partner Irene this time around and the pair have already experienced success on the Gold Coast greens, taking silver at the 2016 Eight Nations Championships. In the B6/B7/B8 Open Triples, Michael Simpson is the sole returning member of the team that took 4^th place in Glasgow. He is joined by 2015 Singles World Champion, Martin Hunter and 2016 Scottish Champion, Mike Nicoll.

After many years of coaching and holding positions as Head Coach and Team Manager at the Commonwealth Games, within both mainstream and para bowls, Bob Dick has decided to step down ahead of the Gold Coast Games in 2018.  The decision wasn’t taken lightly, and although Bob will remain heavily involved with Scotland’s para bowlers, he will not be attending any long-haul overseas events in the future.  SDS is extremely thankful to Bob for his contribution to our programme and we are grateful that he continues to be involved at national level.

Although SDS is losing considerable experience at this level, it does provide a significant opportunity for one our national coaches to step into the role of Head Coach.  Following a robust recruitment period we are delighted to announce that Bob Christie has been successful and will lead the selected players into, and during, the Games.  Bob has a wealth of experience within bowls in Scotland both as a player and a coach, and in a relatively short period of time, he has made a significant contribution to the para bowls programme.  We are confident that the players will respond to his leadership and look forward to the Games with optimism.

Janice Eaglesham MBE, Chair, Scottish Disability Sport said: “Scottish Disability Sport is delighted to announce a strong field of players to compete in two medal events at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Selection decisions were extremely difficult, but the five players and two directors that were chosen have a blend of experience, as well as a strong sense of team unity, which is vitally important for pairs and triples disciplines. I’d like to congratulate those players and directors, who will represent Scotland at the highest level, and we look forward to the Games with great optimism.”

 

Welcoming the newly selected athletes, Jon Doig OBE, Team Scotland Chef de Mission, said: “Huge congratulations to all of the athletes who have been selected for Team Scotland. We look forward to them representing their families, communities and country with pride in 2018.

“Every athlete with a place on the team has met the tough selection standards, just to make the team and it is clear that we have the quality within the team to deliver our goal of having our most successful ever overseas Games.”

Aileen Campbell, Minister for Public Health and Sport, said: “A massive congratulations to the latest athletes announced to represent Scotland at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

“By making it to the top of their respective sports, and being chosen to represent Scotland, they have already done a huge amount to make themselves, and all of us who will be cheering them on, so proud – and I have no doubt that will continue when the Games come around.”

PARA BOWLS (7):

Name                         Hometown / Lives

Robert Barr              Glasgow / Glasgow

Martin Hunter          Burntisland, Fife / Burntisland, Fife

Mike Nicoll                Brechin / Jedburgh

Michael Simpson    Auchtermuchty / Auchtermuchty

David Thomas        Ardrossan / Ardrossan

Irene Edgar              Glasgow / Saltcoats

Sarah Jane Ewing  Dunfermline / Dunfermline

 

St Andrew’s Day (30 November) was a fitting occasion to announce the next 35 Scots, proud to be flying the flag for Team Scotland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. The list includes six past medallists and 21 debutants from the sports of Boxing, Para- Bowls, Shooting, Triathlon and Weightlifting and now join those previously selected in Swimming, Lawn Bowls and Squash.

Having recently hand cycled her way 2,000 miles from Canada to Mexico, Paralympic Games gold medallist Karen Darke will take to the start line in Gold Coast where Para-Triathlon makes its debut. Since being paralysed from the chest down in a climbing accident age 21, the Inverness based athlete has pushed herself in an incredible series of challenges, alongside her sporting endeavours, including crossing Greenland’s ice cap and climbing Mont Blanc, Matterhorn and El Capitan, all using just the power of her arms.

Jane Moncrieff, CEO Triathlon Scotland said: “We are absolutely delighted that our triathletes have been confirmed for individual events and will be joining Team Scotland at Gold Coast 2018.  We are particularly pleased that para-triathlon will make its debut and Scotland will be represented. We wish all the triathletes the very best, as they continue with their preparations and look forward to getting behind them in April 2018.”

Welcoming the newly selected athletes, Jon Doig OBE, Team Scotland Chef de Mission, said: “Huge congratulations to all of the athletes who have been selected for Team Scotland. We look forward to them representing their families, communities and country with pride in 2018.

“Every athlete with a place on the team has met the tough selection standards, just to make the team and it is clear that we have the quality within the team to deliver our goal of having our most successful ever overseas Games.”

Aileen Campbell, Minister for Public Health and Sport, said: “A massive congratulations to the latest athletes announced to represent Scotland at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

“By making it to the top of their respective sports, and being chosen to represent Scotland, they have already done a huge amount to make themselves, and all of us who will be cheering them on, so proud – and I have no doubt that will continue when the Games come around.

“Boxing, para-bowls, shooting and weightlifting have all seen great results for Scottish athletes over the years – triathlon and para-triathlon give the chance to make that success even stronger. I am really excited to see the mark all our athletes make on the Games.”

Today’s selections bring the total number of athletes named to Team Scotland to 68, following team announcements for Swimming and Lawn Bowls in October and Squash earlier this month. Further selections will be made over the coming months with Athletics next on 12 December 2017.

 

British Wheelchair Basketball recently announced the under 23 GB selection for its 2017 Christmas Training Camp, with 4 players from North of the Border included within the 31 strong squad.

Scottish based players Ben Leitch (Lothian Phoenix) and David Hird (St Mirren Warriors) will join England based Scots Josh Manson (Tees Valley Titans) and David Beattie (CWSC Panthers) to represent Scotland at the camp, which will include 6 members of the historic U23 World Championship Team.  The 4 Scottish youngsters will be hoping to build on their recent success at the School Games and carry that form into the camp.

The training camp will take at the GB Elite Training Centre, EIS Sheffield and will be hosted alongside the men’s senior training camp between Monday 18^th and Thursday 21^st December.

The training camp will see players from across all the Home Nations travel to Sheffield and begin their journey through the selection process for the U23 GB European Championship Team.  The European Championships are set to take place in the summer of 2018, with the World Championships three years later in 2021.

Details of the selected Scottish players can be found below.  A full report can be found on the British Wheelchair Basketball website.

 

Name (Classification)	Club	Region
David Hird (1.0)	St Mirren Warriors	West of Scotland
David Beattie (2.0)	CWSC Panthers	West of Scotland
Josh Manson (3.5)	Tees Valley Titans	East of Scotland
Ben Leitch (4.5)	Lothian Phoenix	Tayside

 

Founded in 1968, Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organisation for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. This year’s Games will be held in Stirling from 9th – 13th August with 1400 athletes with intellectual disabilities taking part.

Athletes will attend from across the GB and European countries for three days of competition, competing in nine different sports.

You can keep up to date with the latest news and press regarding the games and any announcements at the newly launched Special Olympics GB Anniversary Games website here.

There is also a new Anniversary Games facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/SpecialOlympicsScot40/

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) is the member body of the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA) and we are delighted to confirm that a Scottish multi-sport team will be entered into the 2018 World Games, set to take place in Sant Cugat, near Barcelona, from the 5th to 17th of August 2018.

The event is seen as an ideal opportunity for aspiring world class athletes with cerebral palsy to compete in a high performance multi-sport event and we look forward to working with our partner Scottish governing bodies (SGBs) to select a team capable of delivering success for Scotland.  The Games offer ideal preparation for more high profile competitions, such as the Paralympic or Commonwealth Games.

Scotland are preparing to take a small team of athletes with high performance potential in the following sports:

• Boccia
• Athletics and racerunning
• Table tennis
• Swimming

SDS is currently writing selection policies, in partnership with the SGBs of the aforementioned sports, which are set for release in December.

 

For more information on the Games please see the following link: http://cpworldgames.com/

There are only 41 days left till Christmas! If you are shopping online, please remember you can raise funds for us at the same time by using easyfundraising.org.uk.

Over 2,400 well known retailers including Amazon, M&S, Boden, Waitrose, House of Fraser, Vodafone, Virgin Atlantic and many more, will donate a percentage of what you spend to Scottish Disability Sport when you shop with them.

Each purchase generates a donation. So instead of going directly to a retailer’s website, go to easyfundraising first and choose the retailer you want to shop with – then everything you spend earns a donation for Scottish Disability Sport. It’s completely free to use and your shopping won’t cost you a penny more. On average, each retailer will donate 5% of the cost of your shopping – and those donations soon mount up. Please register to support us when you shop online –https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/invite/5L90A3/3M52M8/

Scottish Swimming have released a new video to illustrate their belief that swimming is a sport for all, a sport for life.

No less than 13 Championship Records were broken yesterday in Grangemouth at the 40th SDS Junior Swimming Championships for swimmers with a physical or sensory impairment.

The event is one of the oldest on the SDS Calendar and the fact that so many records were broken is a testament to the rude health that para-swimming finds itself in. The next generation of swimmers coming through our branches and regions smashed personal best times across the classes and entries were up overall and from key areas where targeted development has taken place, such as the Scottish Borders, Tayside and Highland to name just three.

West of Scotland’s Abby Kane – the Rio Paralympic silver medal winner from Largs – was one of the stars of the show in claiming 5 gold medals and 4 Championship Records (CR) at the event. The only CR to escape her is the 50m breast-stroke record currently held by Fife’s Lara Ferguson – a Paralympian in Sydney and Athens – and shows the level the young swimmers are aspiring to. Abby was pushed all the way by Beth Johnston from the Scottish Borders, who was the previous CR holder for the 4 events Abby claimed yesterday. The quality of swims these two produced in their 5 races, alongside the many other fine performers on the day, was something to behold and all who were in attendance recognised this event will be seen as one of the very strongest in its history, with swimmers of the highest calibre competing.

Fife’s Oliver Carter definitely fits the bill in this respect too. The progress of this remarkable swimmer from Carnegie can be charted by a quick analysis of his times in this event alone. Every year Oliver has competed and every year his times improve almost exponentially. Oliver smashed the 1-minute barrier in the 100m Freestyle event he got so close to last year and – similarly to Abby – went on to claim 5 golds and 4 Championship Records. One of the records was the 25-year-old record in the 50m breaststroke held by another Fife Paralympian, Iain Matthew. The fact that Iain was the 1992 gold medallist in the 100m Breastroke at the 1992 Barcelona games only serves to highlight the quality of Oliver’s swim. The only CR escaping Oliver was Robert Dalgleish’s 50m Backstroke record from 2011. Robert from Lothian was on hand to witness some of these swims and kindly presented some medals to our successful swimmers alongside Jim Anderson OBE and Colette Martin. Robert joined his great friend and rival Stefan Hoggan in attendance, Stefan was fulfilling a role as Announcer-in-Training, shadowing the best in the business, Paul Noble MBE, who has undertaken this role for SDS at both the junior and senior events for years.

Lewis McCulloch from Port Glasgow Otters had another phenomenal Championship, following on from his Best Male Performer award last year. Lewis bettered the CR in all five events he competed in. He was extremely unfortunate to miss out on the Best Male Performance for 2017, the award, this year, going to Oliver in recognition of his exceptional performances in his races and the records he broke.

A big thanks should go to Falkirk Community Trust, all staff at Grangemouth Sports Complex and the many officials and volunteers from Scottish Swimming, marshalled by Jean King, and the SDS Branches who support the event so much.

Photo: Oliver Carter (Fife) & Abby Kane (West of Scotland) – Best Male & Female Performers of the 2017 Championships