Scotland’s only competitor at this event, Mary flew the flag high in Brazil last week, coming home from the Brazilian Paralympic Centre with two medals in the SL4 women’s singles and SL3-SU5 women’s doubles.

Prior to the competition Mary was part of the first training camp for players, competing, sharing ideas and sparring with new competitors.

With limited numbers in the women’s SU5 event it was decided that SL4 and SU5 women’s singles events would be a joint event. With Mary now playing against a higher class it proved too difficult to get past the SU5 Japanese athletes in the group. Mary came third in her group and was out of the SU5/ SL4 competition, however having beaten Brazil’s SL4 Maria Rayane Lucia (21-8, 21-1) in her group, Mary came out in one of the highest positions of the SL4 category which set her up for a singles silver medal event with SL4 Danielle De Araujo of Brazil. In a convincing two-set score line of 21-8, 21-11 Mary secured the highest medal available for SL4 women’s singles in their category, silver.

Mary’s second medal came in the shape of doubles with her Peruvian partner Jenny Huaranga. The seconds seeds were up against some tough competition with the strong Japanese SU5 women in this category. In the group stages our pair came second with an excellent win over Kaede Kameyama (Japan) and Maraisa Santos (Brazil) in a three-set thriller 21-23, 21-10, 21-10, but lost out to another Japan-Brazil pairing of Abinaecia Da Silva/ Mamiko Toyoda, 9-21, 5-21, securing them a place in the semi-finals.  Here was where the journey ended for the pair who lost out to Japan’s Noriko Ito Akiko Sugino 9-21, 8-21.

Finally, in the SL3-SU5 mixed doubles Mary, playing with Brazils Rogerio De Oliveira, was pipped in the quarter finals v Japans Toshiaki Suenaga and Akiko Sugino 10-21, 8-21. Reaching this stage was thanks to a superb win in the group stages against another strong Japanese pairing of Taku Hiroi and Kaede Kameyama 21-13, 23-21.

Qualification for Tokyo 2020 Paralympics has been outlined and will start this January, Mary is currently GB’s only SL4 woman competing on the international stage and is looking forward to the process of hopefully qualifying for the first Paralympics to involve Para-Badminton.

‘I continue to prepare and work hard in the hope I may qualify for Tokyo 2020. My next tournament is in Japan in six weeks’ time. Thank you for the support from Badminton Scotland and my coaches Kaity Hall and Sarah Bok. Also for the financial support from  Path to Success, QARANC, Archers Hall and Crombies Butchers of Edinburgh.’

Scotland’s Robyn Love is set to represent GB Woman at this year’s World Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Hamburg, Germany.  The world’s wheelchair basketball elite will compete from the 16^th – 26^th August with 16 teams and 12 teams qualified for the men’s and woman’s respectively.

West of Scotland born Love, will be competing at her first World Championships having previously played at the European Championships (Spain, 2017 & England, 2015) and the Paralympic Games (Rio, 2016) and will be hoping to build on the previous successes of the Woman’s GB team which included a historic 4^th place finish in Brazil.

Ex Lothian Phoenix star Love’s rise through the sport has been rapid having only began playing in 2013 after a meeting with basketballscotland’s Disability Talent and Pathway Manager, Tina Gordon.  Love, who currently plays for Coyotes, will be part of the GB side that will take on Canada, Spain, Brazil, Australia and Netherlands in Pool B of the World Championships.

Another member of the GB Woman’s set up for the World Championships is Glasgow Rocks first team coach Jen Scally who will in Germany in the role of Team Manager.  Jen, recently led the under 19 Scotland team to a second place finish at the British Wheelchair Basketball Lord Taverners National Junior Championships and will take charge of the same team at the upcoming School Games.

The GB Woman’s team tip off on Thursday against Brazil, 6pm

The individuals competition ran from 11 – 15 August with eight UK Boccia players. David Smith playing in the BC1 classification won 7-2 in the final to secure the gold medal. Congratulations.

The UK team included Scotland’s very own: Stephen McGuire, Patrick Wilson, Jamie McCowan.

All of the Boccia UK team played tremendously well with really tight games. The standard of competition throughout the 33 nations competing has strengthened.

The athletes expressed at the beginning of the week that the Host Organising Committee (HOC) is delivering an awesome event which has wowed athletes and spectators alike with the venue layout, presentation and organisation. The benchmark has truly been raised and congratulations must be extended to the HOC.

This World Championships have raised the bar with online streaming on the BBC, a show court and filming projected onto a large screen which shows a birds eye view adding to spectator enjoyment.

Scotland was also well represented in officiating. Darren Thomson refereed, Sam Thomson was one of the timers, along with Lewis McConnell and Ling Mann, with Catherine Carruthers as a linesperson. Lewis was actually awarded Volunteer of the Day for Tuesday 14 August, an award presented daily and voted by peers within the event volunteers.

From today, all GB Boccia players are involved in team and pairs. Stephen McGuire (BC4), Jamie McCowan and Patrick Wilson(BC3), all take part and we wish them all luck.

Results to date:

• BC4 pairs won against Japan 5-1 and lost against Germany 2-3 in a closely contested gam
• BC3 pairs beat Columbia 9-1 in their opening match

Grampian swimmer Toni Shaw claimed her second medal of the World Para Swimming European Championships in Dublin on Wednesday 16^th August.  The 15-year old secured a Silver medal in the Woman’s S9 100m butterfly to accompany her bronze medal won the previous day.  Shaw (University of Aberdeen Performance) touched in a time of 1:09.18 to set a new Scottish best and pick up her second medal of the Championships, all in what is her first event representing Great Britain.

Stephen Clegg broke the British S12 50m freestyle record twice in the same day, first as he won his morning heat and then later in the final of the event, clocking a time of 24.79 which meant he finished 5^th overall.  City of Sunderland swimmer Clegg continued his record breaking form into day 4 of the competition, recording another British record in the S12 100m backstroke (1:01.46) and making sure he qualified quickest going into this evening’s final.

Toni Shaw and Andrew Mullen added further medals to the haul won by Scottish swimmers at the World Para Swimming European Championships in Dublin on Tuesday 14^th August. 

Fifteen year old Grampian and University of Aberdeen Performance swimmer, Shaw claimed top sport in her heat of the S9 100m freestyle in a time of 1:05.72 and took this form into the final later that day.  Shaw, making her first appearance for Britain and fresh from competing for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games, claimed bronze in a time of 1:04.27.

City of Glasgow swimmer Mullen also claimed Bronze in the S5 50m backstroke, touching in 36.39 behind Ukraine’s Yaroslav Semenenko (Gold) and Italy’s Antonio Fantin (Silver).  Earlier in the day, multi international medallist Mullen had broken the European record in the heats only for the record to be bettered in the next heat.

The previous day saw East of Scotland swimmer Scott Quin storm to the European Gold Medal in the Men’s SB14 100m breaststroke in a time of 1:07.21, finishing just in front of another Scot – Grampian’s Conner Morrison (University of Aberdeen Performance) who touched in a time of 1.07.53.  Warrender Bath Club’s swimmer Quin turned at the half way point in second spot, just behind Ukranian Vasyl Krainyyhk, however used his notorious strong finish to claim first place and retain the Gold medal won in Funchal, Portugal two years previous.  The Midlothian man highlighted ‘I have swum better but sometimes you have to dig deep’.

Another East swimmer, Stephen Clegg, makes up the Scottish contingent of the Great Britain team at the World Para Swimming European Championships.  The City of Sunderland swimmer claimed first place in the heats of the S12 50m Freestyle (24.82) and will move into the final later on day 3.

Para Sailor Rory McKinna selected to represent Britain and heading for the Para World Sailing Championship in September and coming along to the Scottish Club Trophy to share his experiences.

Ayrshire’s Rory McKinna has had swift rise in competitive sailing having started his sporting journey in 2016 and now enjoying international competition for his country and inspiring other young sailors to take up racing. Over the past year he has been recognised widely receiving both the RYA UK Sailability Young Person of the Year and RYA Scotland Young Person of The Year alongside the Ayrshire Sportability Award.

The full article can be seen on the RYA Scotland website here:

https://www.rya.org.uk/newsevents/news/Pages/Para-World-Championship-beckon-for-Rory.aspx

 

Stephen McGuire, Jamie McCowan and Patrick Wilson all qualified for the last 16 stage of their respective events after day two of the World Boccia Championships at Liverpool’s Exhibition Centre.

BC4 player Stephen McGuire made it safely through to the knockout stages of the competition after some comprehensive victories during the group stages of the competition including a 12 v 1 win against American Kevin Stokes and a 12 v 0 triumph against Spaniard Vasile Agache.

It was equally as impressive for BC3 player Jamie McCowan who secured 3 wins over the first two days of individual action.  The West of Scotland player and current world number 2 recoded victories over Maria Bjurstrom (Sweden) (7-3), Pieter Cilissen (Belgium) (4-3) and Eric Bussiere (Canada) (4-3) to secure his passage into the last 16 on day 3.

Edinburgh based player Patrick Wilson found things slightly trickier in Pool G, scraping through to the last 16 stage on points difference.  Wilson recorded one victory (5 – 1 v Ling Yan Tsang) and lost 2 group matches, including one against current Paralympic BC3 Champion Howon Jeong (7 – 3) with Wilson claiming the last end by 3 shots to take some confidence into day 3 of the competition.  However, this was to prove the end of the road for the Borders born BC3 player as he was defeated 7-1 by Russian player Aleksander Legostaev at the last 16 stage, meaning an exit from the individual competition.

BC4 World number 1, Stephen McGuire was up against German athlete Boris Nicolai and struggled for momentum after losing the first end by 3.  McGuire managed to win the next two ends, leaving the score 3-2 to Nicolai moving into the final end.  The German managed to defend the lead and eventually claimed the match, 4-2 and knocking the Scot out.

Jamie McCowan continued his impressive form the first two days, as he came up against Hong Kong’s Wing Tung Liu at the last 16 stage.  McCowan raced into an early lead and his opponent from Hong Kong found it difficult to get back into the match despite winning the 3^rd end by 1 shot – McCowan eventually claiming the victory 3-1.

Great Britain’s David Smith also moved into the Quarter Final stage with a 9-o victory against Spain’s Ferran Ribas.

Father of three Michael Mellon from Cardenden is an established member of Disability Sport Fife and within only a few years he has made an immense impression. It does not seem all that long since Michael competed in his first DSF Track and Field Championships at Pitreavie and Scottish Championships at Grangemouth. He has established himself as the leading ambulant physically disabled thrower in the country.

Michael will once again be part of a strong Fife squad of physically disabled athletes that will compete in the Scottish Disability Sport National Senior Championships in September at Grangemouth Stadium. Michael is now very competent in all three throws.

At school Michael was a very keen rugby player and javelin thrower and he excelled in both. Michael’s father was in the Royal Air Force and he joined up in 1997. He sustained a tibia and fibula injury playing rugby and attended Headley Court Rehabilitation hospital for a short period. In 2005 Michael was medically discharged and whilst on sick leave met his wife and they married in 2004. Because of all the leg pain he was experiencing Michael decided to progress with an amputation.

In 2014 Michael signed up with Dundee Dragons and become involved in the Dragons wheelchair rugby league team. Michael loves the camaraderie of the club and the sport and values the friendships he has made over the years. Michael is always thrilled when he is selected for Team Scotland and has the opportunity to play in the Four Nations Tournament.

Michael has been selected for the 2018 Invictus Games that will be held in Sydney, Australia in October. Such is the talent of the man that he has been selected to represent Team UK in sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis. Michael has had to miss out on his beloved athletics because of the intense schedule of the team sports.

Due to participation in multiple events Michael will be away almost every weekend from June until the start of October for different training camps. For the 2018 Games some of the camps are held during the week. For Michael each camp tends to be a 7 hour day of training in a wheelchair or on court for sitting volleyball. In addition there are competitions against teams around the UK. The sitting vollyball team for example played against the GB women’s team and the GB men’s development squad. The wheelchair basketball team played against the Scotland under 23 team at Inverclyde in Largs. The wheelchair rugby team have played games against many excellent teams but the real test will come one week before Team UK fly out to Australia when they play the best team in GB. By then the Invictus team should have fully bonded and will be ready for the international challenges that lie ahead.

Michel indicated that selection was pretty tough this year because the UK team will comprise of only 72 athletes. As the Games grow in popularity more wounded injured or sick serving personnel and veterans apply. This year there were more applications than ever for the UK squad. Invictus squad trials were held in April at Bath University and the squad was announced on 15 May. The team announcement was made at Horse Guards Parade in central London in the presence of the Prime Minister and many representatives from the national media.

Disability Sport Fife is once again fiercely proud of Michael and all that he has achieved to date as an Invictus competitor. Last Games were massively successful for him and he is preparing well for competitions in four team games. An incredible undertaking but he is a very special athlete.

On the down side Michael misses being with his wife and children as much as he would like to be. They are however his greatest fans and have supported him since day one of his Invictus Games career. Michael values immensely the quality time spent with like minded personnel who have been through much of what he has as an ex serviceman. Training is challenging but there is time in the evenings to socialise and recharge the batteries.

Well done Michael we are all so proud of you.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife

Owen Miller from Dunfermline and Fife Athletic Club recently broke through the 4 minute barrier for 1500 metres for the first time in his career. The occasion was the Scottish Athletics Open Graded Meet at Grangemouth Stadium. The ex Woodmill HS T20 middle distance athlete recorded a sensational personal best time of 3:57.35.

Yesterday at the Scottish Championships at Grangmouth Stadium, Owen finished second in his heat in a time of 4.01.21 to qualify for the final. To day in the final, Owen finished 7th in a time of 3.58.97 to record his second fastest performance of all time and run under the four minute barrier for the second occasion in a few weeks. Owen’s coach Steve Doig reckoned he could have run faster had he not been accidentally bumped with 80 metres to go when he was attempting to overtake an athlete.

This weekend Owen has recorded his second and third fastest times for 1500 metres and the Scottish Championships are an approved IPC event. As an IPC registered athlete Owen will be listed on the IPC international ranking list for 1500 metres and able to compare his performances with other T20 1500 metre runners from all over the world.

Owen’s Fife AC team mate Sam Fernado also had another outstanding run on Saturday in 3000m steeplechase finishing 6th in a time of 10.04.25. Like Owen, Sam is enjoying his most successful season to date having recently won two medals at the INAS European Championships in Paris. Coached by Ron Morrison, the Gateside athlete is a relative novice in steeplechase but he consistently turns in excellent performances on the big occasions.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife

Congratulations to Ollie Carter who lives in Cupar and is a member of Carnegie Swimming Club. Ollie is coached by Morag Mitchell.

Ollie ended the swimming season on a high at the British Para Swimming Championships at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. Ollie reached the finals of 100m and 400m freestyle and set a massive personal best for 400m freestyle of 4.21.85. This will be yet another S10 Scottish record for the ex Bell Baxter HS pupil who heads to university after the holidays.

Not surprisingly Ollie is over the moon at maintaining the form he has displayed throughout the swimming year. Ollie has learned that he has been selected for the Scottish Swimming Senior Silver Squad and is waiting to hear about his position within the British Swimming performance framework.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife