After watching Andy Murray end his season as world No.1, his compatriot Gordon Reid knows he has the chance to end the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour as world No.1 if he can win the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters 2016 that starts in London on Wednesday (30 November).

“It has been an incredible season – one that has gone by in a bit of a flash. I’ve loved every minute so far and hopefully I can end it on a high in London. I know the world No.1 ranking is at stake,” says Reid.

Reid, the 25 year-old world No.2 from Helensburgh in Scotland is careful not to over-state his chances of wrestling the top spot from Stephane Houdet of France when the action gets underway at the Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

“Right now I’m feeling pretty good and quite relaxed, though nothing is guaranteed when you are competing at the highest level.  Expectations were high at Wimbledon where I did well (won the singles) and in Rio (Paralympic Games) I again played well (and took gold).  If I go out and play strongly next week I’ve got a chance, but I know there are eight very strong world-class players in the mix so it will be very tough.  I’ll definitely have to play my very best tennis if I’m to win it (the Masters).”

Left-hander Reid is one of five British players currently confirmed for the season ending Masters, with world No.7 Alfie Hewett (GB) making his debut in the men’s singles draw.  In a tournament that will also feature the defending men’s champion, Joachim Gerard (Belgium), Reid knows he must be at his best. However, if drawn against current world No.1 Houdet, he believes he now has the game to match the 46 year-old Frenchman. Though Houdet has won 21 of their 33 encounters, Reid has recently won 7 of those matches.

“Yes, I think for me the gap is definitely closing (against Houdet),” said Reid. “He’s a great player but I think I’ve had the better of our exchanges over the past couple of years. I’m increasingly using good tactics against him, my game has improved a lot and I’m making it harder for him to exploit any weaknesses.”

With Hewett joining Reid in the men’s singles and fellow Brits Andy Lapthorne (quads), Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley (both women’s singles) also competing in London, Reid hopes the home support can inspire the players to emulate Murray’s feat. As Reid headed for his latest practice session, he added:

“Whether it’s Nottingham, the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters or Wimbledon, it’s brilliant playing in front of crowds that are closest to my home in Scotland.  Last week you could see how the crowd got behind Andy Murray for his ATP World Tour Finals win. Hopefully, we can also get good crowds next week, with people coming to cheer on the British players and inspire us to a similar result! I really enjoy playing in front of home crowds and I’m looking forward to getting the matches started.”

In the women’s singles, world No.7 Diede de Groot (Netherlands) has signaled her form in advance of making her debut at the Masters by last week winning the women’s singles title at the ITF British Open in Bath. Jiske Griffioen (Netherlands) and David Wagner (USA), the respective women’s and quad Masters champions will also be competing in London, aiming to defend their titles at what is one of the most prestigious events on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour.

Tickets for the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters are available from as little as £1. For details visit www.wheelchairtennismasters.com

Photo courtesy of the Tennis Foundation

Congratulations to Karen Ross on receiving the Disability Coach of the Year at sportscotland’s Coaching, Officiating and Volunteering Awards.

Congratulations to Eddie McCluskey on receiving his Lifetime Achievement Award at sportscotland’s Coaching, Officiating and Volunteering Awards.

 

The second UK Boccia Coaching Conference was held on 19 November 2016 in Nottingham where it was announced that Claire Morrison won the Boccia Performance Coach of the Year.   Claire Morrison is a very deserving winner as in 2016, two of the players whom she coaches won gold medals – David Smith won the BC1 gold medal at the Rio Paralympics and Stephen McGuire won gold at the World Individual Championships in the BC4 event in Beijing.

Claire’s voluntary coaching career started over 13 years ago and since then has been integral to the coaching fabric of boccia in Scotland and the UK.  In July 2013, Claire became the first full time paid GB coach.  She coaches full time across Great Britain and Northern Ireland and is involved in week-long coaching camps, mini camps and individual sessions held for GB squad members. She still maintains her voluntary role as Scottish National Coach.  Claire has also made a major contribution to boccia coach education over the past four years and has been instrumental in creating the Level 2 UKCC qualification in the UK as part of a working group and is the lead trainer for boccia UKCC at Levels 1 and 2.

The 2016 UK Boccia Coaching Conference was a resounding success with eight Scottish coaches braving severe weather conditions to attend the event.  This year the conference had two strands – participation and performance which allowed the delegates to focus on their areas of interest.  GB Boccia performance staff and Paralympic players led on the performance workshops and Boccia England staff led on the participation workshops.  The workshops provided a great learning environment for all and the presenters are to be commended.   The Scottish coaches left the conference invigorated with many new ideas for implementation once back with their players. The newly appointed Boccia England CEO, Chris Ratcliffe provided the welcome and he, Natalia Braisby and all the staff at Boccia England are to be applauded for providing a great conference.

If you would like to find out more about Boccia or attend a UKCC coaching course

Level 1 – 18 and 19 February and 19 March 2017

Level 2 – 21 and 22 January, 4 and 5 February and 5 March 2016

Please contact admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com or phone 0131 317 1130 for more details.

Lothian Disability Badminton Club & Scottish Disability Sport

Disability Badminton Championships 2017

Saturday January 28th 2017 – Play Commencing from 9 a.m.

Napier University Sports Facility

Sighthill Campus, Edinburgh EH11 4BN

For more information download the entry form here.

With the Paralympic Games in Rio now over individual sports seek to identify the athletes that will receive high performance support as they head into the next Paralympic cycle.  British Swimming announced their World Class Podium, Potential and Academy programmes which has strong representation from Scotland, with no fewer than eight making the cut.

Selected athletes will receive access to world-class sports science and medicine services, advanced training camp and competition opportunities as well as support from the Scottish Institute of Sport. Whilst some will receive funding provided by the National Lottery through UK Sport.

SDS Academy athletes, Stephen Clegg, Oliver Carter, Toni Shaw and Cara Smyth will access these programmes for the first time, whilst former Academy Athlete, Beth Johnston remains on the programme. They are joined by Paralympic medallists Scott Quin, Andrew Mullen and Abby Kane and everyone at SDS wish them well for the season ahead.

Podium Programme

Andrew Mullen
Scott Quin

Podium Potential programme

Stephen Clegg
Abby Kane

Para-Academy

Beth Johnston
Oliver Carter
Toni Shaw
Cara Smyth

A full report can be found on the Scottish Swimming website:

http://www.scottishswimming.com/news-events/news/2016/11/british-para-swimming-announces-performance-squads-for-2017.aspx?year=2016&month=11

 

Scotland’s Wheelchair Curlers competed at the World Wheelchair-B Curling Championship in Lohja, Finland this week, with the top two teams gaining automatic qualification to the World Wheelchair Curling Championships in 2017, which is the final qualification event for the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.

Aileen Neilson skipped the Scotland team, alongside team-mates Gregor Ewan (third), Hugh Nibloe (second), Robert McPherson (lead) and Angie Malone (alternate) in Finland.

The Scottish team finished top of an extremely difficult group to meet Finland in the final and gain automatic qualification to the World Championships next year.  Unfortunately they lost 4-6 to claim a Silver medal but ultimately their goal was reached.

World Wheelchair-B Curling Championship Standings

1. Finland
2. Scotland
3. Slovakia

Scotland have now all but booked their qualification for the Winter Paralympic Games in Pyeong Chang, South Korea between 9-18 March 2018. The teams comprting at the 2017 World Wheelchair Championships and the Paralympic Winter Games will be Russia, China, Norway, USA, Canada, Slovakia, Finland, hosts Korea, Switzerland, Germany, Scotland (as Great Britain at the Paralympic Games) and Sweden.

For more information visit the World Curling Federation website on http://www.worldcurling.org/home

#WWhCC2017 #Roadto2018 #curling

Edinburgh’s Josh Manson was awarded the Young Sportsperson of the Year (Male) award at the prestigious Lord’s Taverners Sporting Chance Awards, held at Guildhall, London, on Friday 21^st October 2016.

The Lord Taverners, the UK’s leading disability sports charity, facilitate the Sporting Chance Awards which recognise the sporting achievements of young people under the age of 19 years old and the young wheelchair basketball player was recognised for his considerable development over the last 12 – 18 months by receiving the much coveted Young Sportsperson of the Year (Male).  The award criteria include sporting excellence, being a role model for others and raising the profile of their sport.

The Lothian Phoenix player, who is also the current Lothian Disability Sport Young Sports Person of the Year, met all the award criteria through his rapid development on the court, becoming an integral player in the U19 Junior League squad.  This has been recognised and Manson is now part of the senior Phoenix side, competing in the National League division 3 and division 1 squads, while also being invited to attend GB U23 training camps providing the platform to test his undoubted ability against players older players.

In addition to his achievements on court, the former Currie High School pupil is also excelling and becoming a genuine ambassador for the sport of wheelchair basketball, regularly assisting with coaching the upcoming players at the club, while relishing the leadership role he plays to the youngsters.  He has shown a wider commitment towards the sport, helping to raise the profile of the sport in Scotland through a number of presentations to teachers, young people and sporting organisations while also supporting Scottish Disability Sport to convey the important message of including young people with a disability in all aspects of PE.

Furthermore, Josh has immersed himself in the coaching aspect of the sport through attendance at the level 1 coaching course and Positive Coaching Scotland workshops.

Colin Leslie (Dalkeith), Fiona Christie (South Queensferry) and Bobby Laing (Livingston) brought home bronze medals from the European Para-Badminton Championships in the Dutch town of Beek.

Leslie’s winning run in the SL3 men’s singles came to an end in the semi-finals but he still claimed bronze.

The 3/4 seed defeated Belgium’s 5/6 seed Bob Biesmans 12-21 21-19 21-18 to reach the last four but missed out on a place in the final after falling to Germany’s Pascal Wolter 21-12 21-8.

Team-mate Alan Oliver, the other 3/4 seed, had his medal hopes dashed when he went down 21-17 13-21 22-20 against France’s Mathieu Giles Thomas in the quarters.

Oliver also reached the last eight of the SL3-SL4 doubles before he and England’s Antony Forster went down 21-8 21-12 against Germany’s Marcel Adam and Spain’s Simon Cruz Mondejar.

Oliver and Leslie also reached the knockout stages of the SL3-SU5 mixed doubles before each went down in three close games with their respective Danish partners Julie Thrane and Astrid Lihav Riis.

Christie also struck bronze in the women’s singles WH2 category thanks to a fine win over third seed Liliia Prokofeva of Russia in the quarter-finals. She booked her semi-final place with a 23-21 19-21 21-16 victory only to fall in the semi-finals to Turkey’s second seed Narin Uluc 21-13 21-9.

Laing and English partner Isaak Dalglish also picked up a bronze in the SS6 men’s doubles. They reached the semi-finals but went down to top seeds Krysten Coombs and Jack Shephard 21-9 21-18. The Anglo-Scottish pair had reached the knockout stage with two group wins out of three before falling to the England duo. Shephard had also beaten Laing in the group stage of the singles.

Scotland squad: Alan Oliver, Colin Leslie, Niall Jarvie, David Purdie, Bobby Laing, Deidre Nagel, Fiona Christie.

For all the final results go to www.tournamentsoftware.com