Gordon Reid continued to carry British hopes in the men’s singles at the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships when he moved into the quarter-finals at Nottingham Tennis Centre on Wednesday. Wimbledon Champion Reid overcame a second set dip against Takuya Miki of Japan to win in straight sets 6-0, 7-5 to set up a rematch of his Wimbledon final against Stefan Olsson.

“I’m glad to get the win, I dropped off in that second set when he stepped up his level but I was able to step it up and close it out in two sets. Miki is a tough opponent as he proved in that second set. But I found a way to win it which is pleasing,” said Reid.

“The wind made it a bit more difficult today so I had to adjust my game accordingly. I’m looking forward to playing doubles tomorrow with Alfie (Hewett) and picking up where we left off at Wimbledon. We also won here last year which was our first Super Series title together and since then we’ve grown as a partnership, so I’m hoping we can do the same this week.”

Aside from Reid it was a tough day for his fellow Brits with some close losses in doubles. Nottinghamshire based David Phillipson paired up with his intended Rio 2016 partner Marc McCarroll. The duo went down narrowly in a final set tie-break against French third seeds Michael Jeremiasz and Frederic Cattaneo.

With Jeremiasz and Cattaneo having doubles gold and silver medals between them from the last two Paralympics, Phillipson and McCarroll were edged out 6-2, 5-7 7-6(2).

“We played some good tennis and in some patches we were just too inconsistent,” said Phillipson. “We’ve both been coming back from injury so bearing that in mind to go to a final set tie-break with them was positive. It’s a nice confidence boost before Rio and with a few weeks training to get even sharper together, hopefully we can do something special in Rio.”

The second day of men’s singles competition saw South Africa’s Evans Maripa upset Argentina’s Roland Garros champion and fifth seed Gustavo Fernandez 6-2, 6-4.

While there was little hint of an upset in any of the other singles matches, London 2012 bronze medallists Jordanne Whiley and Lucy Shuker threatened to dethrone Dutch top seeds Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot on the opening day of the women’s doubles. However, Grififoen and van Koot prevailed 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Photo courtesy of the Tennis Foundation

 

 

The British Paralympic Association (BPA) today announced that 41 athletes have been added to the line-up for track and field in Rio as a number of Paralympic, World and European medallists were selected to ParalympicsGB.

Among them were 4 Scots, who will join Jo Butterfield (F51) and Maria Lyle (T35) who were named in the first round of athletics selections.  Sammi Kinghorn (T53) Wheelchair Racer, Stef Reid (T44) sprinter and long jumper, Derek Rae (T46) marathon runner and 2 times Paralympian, Libby Clegg, who has recently been reclassified and now competes wearing a blindfold in the T11 classification.

Libby Clegg will compete at her third Games in Rio, and her first with guide Chris Clarke. Crowned Commonwealth Champion in 2014, Libby had to miss a number of major competitions this cycle through illness and injury. She was reclassified as a T11 sprinter earlier this year and went on to set a world record in the T11 200m at Saturday’s IPC Athletics Grand Prix Final, the same venue where she won silver in 2012.

Clegg said: “I’m delighted to be selected for my third Paralympic Games. It’s been a whirlwind of a journey since London after a number of injuries but it’s great to come through the other side and be a part of a really strong ParalympicsGB team heading out to Rio.

“Having changed classification recently, Saturday’s performance in London was beyond our wildest expectations. However, we are now focused to getting amongst the medals and we can’t wait to get going.”

Clarke added: “This is a totally new experience for me and a complete learning curve. To be able to go to a major Games is a dream come true and we are going into Rio with a lot of confidence.”

Scottish disability Sport wish all 6 selected Scots all the best at the Games.

Today’s announcement takes the number of selected athletes to 256 from 19 sports.

Selected athletes are:

Kare Adenegan
Home town: Coventry
Main training base: Warwick University

Graeme Ballard
Home town: Chorley
Main training base:  Robin Park Wigan

Olivia Breen
Home town: Liphook
Main training base: Lee Valley London

Mickey Bushell
Home town: Telford
Main training base: Telford / London

Richard Chiassaro
Home town: Harlow
Main training base: Mark Hall Sports Centre, Harlow

Chris Clarke (guide to Libby Clegg)
Home town: Milton Keynes
Main training base: Loughborough

Libby Clegg (guided by Chris Clarke)
Home town: Newcastleton / Bollington
Main training base: Loughborough

Kadeena Cox
Home town: Leeds
Main training base: Manchester

Vanessa Daobry
Home town: Haringey, London
Main training base: Lee Valley Athletics Centre

Kyron Duke
Home town: Cwmbran
Main training base: Welsh Institute of Sport / Uwic Cyncoed

Sabrina Fortune
Home town: Mold
Main training base: Wrexham / Deeside

Toby Gold
Home town: Thames Ditton
Main training base: Kingsmeadow Athletics Track

Dan Greaves
Home town: Loughborough
Main training base: Loughborough

Kylie Grimes
Home town: Farnham
Main training base: Lee Valley Athletics Centre

David Henson
Home town: Southampton
Main training base: Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth

Claire Harvey
Home town: Gillingham
Main training base: Ashford, Kent

Jordan Howe
Home town: Cardiff
Main training base: Loughborough University

Abbie Hunnisett
Home town: East Grinstead
Main training base: The Welsh Institute of Sport

Mo Jomni
Home town: London
Main training base: Kingston

Jade Jones
Home town: Middlesbrough
Main training base: Middlesbrough

Rhys Jones
Home town: Tonypandy
Main training base: Cardiff

Sophie Kamlish
Home town: Bath
Main training base: University of Bath

Samantha Kinghorn
Home town: Gordon
Main training base: Glasgow

Simon Lawson
Home town: Maryport
Main training base: Maryport / Carlisle

Nathan Maguire
Home town: Chester
Main training base: Liverpool

Polly Maton
Home town: Devizes
Main training base: Bath

Stephen Miller
Home town: Cramlington
Main training base: Gateshead

Steven Morris
Home town: Cardiff
Main training base: UWIC Cardiff

Holly Neill
Home town: Dorchester
Main training base: Yeovil College

Stephen Osborne
Home town: Longfield
Main training base: Lee Valley Athletics Centre

Jonnie Peacock
Home town: St Ives, Cambridgeshire
Main training base: Loughborough

Gemma Prescott
Home town: Warrington
Main training base: Basildon Sporting Village

Derek Rae
Home town: Kirkcaldy
Main training base: St. Andrews

Stef Reid
Home town: Auckland, New Zealand
Main training base: Loughborough University

Julie Rogers
Home town: Bedford
Main training base: Bedford International Athletics Stadium

Ben Rowlings
Home town: Newport, Shropshire
Main training base: Coventry

Sam Ruddock
Home town: Rugby / Grantham
Main training base: Loughborough

Andrew Small
Home town: Greater Manchester
Main training base: Greater Manchester

Laura Sugar
Home town: Cambridge
Main training base: Loughborough

Isaac Towers
Home town: Garstang
Main training base: Liverpool

Kieran Tscherniawsky
Home town: Sleaford
Main training base: Loughborough

With just over 600 days to go until the next Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia in 2018, Team Scotland has unveiled its exciting new brand mark, as it aims to build on the huge success of Glasgow 2014 and deliver the most medals ever won at an overseas Games.

Following an extensive tender process and athlete consultation, the new brand mark selected was developed by the acclaimed Edinburgh based design and branding agency, Brand Oath. The agency is a specialist in the international sports sector helping various global cities in their race to host major sports events, including the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Other sports clients include British Rowing and Netball Scotland.

The new brand mark evolves from Team Scotland’s distinctive, well-loved thistle icon, giving it a modern, dynamic twist. The ‘jaggy’ leaves curl around from below to the embrace the thistle head and at second glance, the white space between the leaves and the thistle head reveal a star shape or sunburst – representing Scotland’s shining stars on the international sporting stage. The five points of the star, mirrored by the five diamonds accentuating the thistle head, is a visual representation of the Team’s brand personality traits: proud, united, ambitious, inspirational and inclusive.

Commonwealth Games Scotland Chairman, Paul Bush OBE said: “The profile and awareness of Team Scotland reached new heights as a result of the team’s incredible success at our home Games in Glasgow exactly two years ago. The level of interest in our athletes’ ongoing success has been phenomenal and this is reflected by the significant reach and engagement across all our social media channels.

“Team Scotland is no longer a once every four year entity and we are repositioning our brand to reflect this. We are playing a key role across Scottish sport, championing the success of Scots on the international stage and helping to inspire youngsters across the country to follow in the footsteps of athletes like Charlie Flynn, Ross Murdoch, Euan Burton, Jennifer McIntosh and Colin Gregor.

“The new brand identity is no longer linked to one specific edition of the Games and heralds a new, modern era for the Commonwealth Games movement in Scotland. It provides a strong foundation from which to communicate in an  engaging and inspiring fashion with our audiences, helping us to continue to build positive relationships with fans, athletes and stakeholders alike – a ‘365 days a year’ relevant and engaging brand.  We believe it also creates added value for the organisation, providing a commercially attractive proposition to our key funding partners and sponsors.”

Brand Oath has gone on to create a framework of themed applications for use across the extensive range of collateral required, including Team Scotland kit and merchandise, campaign advertising and promotional materials. The brand mark will also be used as a portal to showcase the team’s celebrated iconic photography.

Delighted to see the brand mark unveiled, Brand Oath’s founder and creative director, Bernie Shaw-Binns said: “The brief set was an exciting challenge. National identity, particularly where sport is concerned, is a fascinating area of communication. It was important to capture a sense of place and personality that ‘we’ as athletes, fans and stakeholders recognise and are proud of. To avoid the visual clichés, but also deliver on what international audiences expect and perceive to be ‘Scottish’.

“We believe the trick is to embrace our national identifiers, to reinvent them with appropriate respect and restraint, balanced with vision and modernity. Working closely with Team Scotland we believe we have developed a fantastic brand framework that represents, engages and inspires the athletes, the fans and our stakeholders – a badge everyone can wear with pride.”

Former Scotland Rugby 7s captain, Colin Gregor who played in two Commonwealth Games and is Team Scotland’s athlete representative said: “Being selected to represent your country is an extremely special moment and wearing the Team Scotland badge with pride is one of the key elements that unites all the different sports together. The thistle icon has been a firm favourite with the athletes for many years and it is great to see how it has been reinvented with a modern twist that will keep it fresh and relevant, particularly across digital platforms.

“Putting the team’s five values at the heart of the new mark is really important and will be a great way to share these with future team members. The new range of colours are very vivid and striking too and will work well on our team clothing.”

The first public showcase for the new brand will be for the 2016 Team Scotland Scottish Sports Awards which will be held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Wednesday 28 September, where the spotlight will be on the record number of Scots participating in Rio as part of Team GB and Paralympics GB as well as a host of other sporting achievements across the Scottish sporting landscape.

Table sales have been excellent, with sporting and corporate Scotland booking their places at the event to hear first-hand about some of those spine tingling sporting moments, created by our exceptionally talented athletes that make our nation so proud.

12 new awards will be presented, recognising the best of sport in Scotland, culminating in the Emirates Lonsdale Trophy, awarded to the 2016 Scottish Sportsperson of the year.

And next stop for Scotland’s Commonwealth Games athletes will be Gold Coast 2018. Team Scotland is launching its 2018 supporters’ campaign and guests will be invited to get behind the team as we aim to have our best overseas Games ever.

With only 150 seats left you are encouraged to book now to ensure your place at the sporting top table of the year: http://www.scottishsportsawards.scot/

Britain’s Wimbledon champions Gordon Reid, Alfie Hewett and Jordanne Whiley are among 25 world top 10 ranked players aiming to boost their Rio 2016 Paralympic aspirations when the 27th British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships takes place at Nottingham Tennis Centre from 26 – 31 July.

Organised by the Tennis Foundation, the British Open is also the last Super Series event before the Rio 2016 Paralympics and therefore the tournament likely to have the most influence on the seeding for the medal events at Rio between now and the Games.

Reid, will aim for a unique double in Nottingham this year after winning the inaugural men’s singles event at Wimbledon just two weeks ago, watched by a peak TV audience of more than 1 million people.

“I’ve had an amazing few weeks and I’m looking forward to playing here in Nottingham and competing for my first British Open singles title. It’s always a great event and hopefully with the popularity of our sport on the rise we will get lots of people coming along to watch and cheer us on. It’s a quality field and it will be tough but I’m looking forward to getting back on court and competing,” he said.

Reid has risen in the world rankings to a career best No.2 since his Wimbledon triumph and he and reigning champion and world No.1 Stephane Houdet of France top the seeding for the British Open this year, along with reigning NEC Masters champion and 2013 British Open men’s champion Joachim Gerard of Belgium.

The British Open is one of six events to have Super Series status, the highest tier of tournament on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour outside of the Grand Slams.

Tickets are just £5 with a free come and try session for all the family on Saturday 30th^th July. Get your tickets here: www.britishopenwtc.org.uk.

Photo courtesy of the Tennis Foundation

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) sent a team of nine players to Surrey Sports Park in Guildford for the 2016 GB Boccia Championships which were held on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th July. The Championships were hugely significant this year as they represented the final competition for the players selected for ParalympicsGB, ahead of the Rio Games.
Scotland has a tradition of excelling at the event and this year was no different with four medals won across the BC3 and BC4 classification groups.

In the BC1 section, world number one David Smith retained his British title defeating England’s Andrew Morgan in the final. Rhodrie Tudor (WAL) claimed the bronze medal. Scotland’s representative in this class was SDS Academy athlete Reegan Stevenson, but last year’s beaten finalist was unable to qualify from the pool.

In the BC2 section it was England’s veteran Nigel Murray who claimed the gold medal, defeating teammate Aran Guthrie in the final. Northern Ireland’s Claire Taggart claimed a bronze medal ahead of her maiden Paralympic Games later this year. Scotland’s Joshua Rowe failed to progress from his pool of three following some tough matches. Josh will remain in Surrey with the rest of his GB team mates for a training camp.

In the BC3 section Scotland are considerably strong with the three players selected to represent Paralympics GB coming from our shores. Patrick Wilson, will be joined by McCowan brothers, Scott and Jamie on the plane to Rio. However, it was Jacob Thomas (Wales) who played the best boccia in this class as he edged out Scott McCowan in a closely contested final. This was the fifth time the pair had met at this stage of the competition. Brother Jamie secured his first medal at this event as a BC3 player defeating England’s Rich Amos to win bronze. Jamie, who has previously won the Gold medal competing as a BC4, was delighted with his achievement. 2015 Champion, Patrick Wilson, unfortunately failed to qualify from the pool following defeats by Rich Amos and team mate Scott McCowan.

It was an all Scottish affair in the BC4 section final with Stephen McGuire beating Kieran Steer to pick up yet another British title. The reigning British and World Champion was in devastating form all weekend and is looking in great shape heading into the Paralympic Games in September. Kieran reached the final following a terrific performance against GB team mate Evie Edwards (England) in the semi-final. Evie went on to win the bronze following a tie-break end with England’s Joshua Wilkins. Scotland’s Jamie Docherty unfortunately failed to qualify from the pool, where he met Stephen Maguire.

The final medal results for the GB Championships were as follows:
BC1
1. David Smith (ENG)
2. Andrew Morgan (ENG)
3. Rhodrie Tudor (WAL)

BC2
1. Nigel Murray (ENG)
2. Aran Guthrie (ENG)
3. Claire Taggart (NI)

BC3
1. Jacob Thomas (WAL)
2. Scott McCowan (SCO)
3. Jamie McCowan (SCO)

BC4
1. Stephen McGuire (SCO)
2. Kieran Steer (SCO)
3. Evie Edwards (ENG)

SDS would like to congratulate all the players, coaches and support staff on an extremely successful GB Championships and our thanks go to all at GB Boccia and Boccia England for hosting and organising this event.

Finally, we would like to wish GB Boccia every success at the forthcoming Paralympic Games.

The British Paralympic Association today committed to focusing harder than ever in the next five years on combining excellence on the field of play with inspiration off it, as it revealed ‘Inspiring Excellence’, its new Strategic Plan for 2016-2021.

The plan outlines the intended vision, mission, values, strategic priorities, organisational structure and planning for the period from the Rio 2016 to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and commits the BPA to a four year programme of targeted planning and continued development.

Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of the BPA, said: “Our principle role is to inspire excellence in the team at the Games and in turn that excellence can inspire a better world for disabled people. It is that dual focus which is so fundamental to the BPA and to the wider Paralympic Movement.

“The Strategic Plan rightly focusses our attention on our primary responsibility: to use lessons learned from London, Sochi and Rio in order to ensure that we are best prepared for the challenges and opportunities of preparing our winter and summer teams for competing over the course of the next four years.

“We recognise the unique opportunity our Paralympic teams provide to unite and inspire disabled and non-disabled people alike and further shift perceptions. But we know there is still a long way to go and we remain in the foothills rather than the summit.”

Inspiring Excellence is available to download here https://we.tl/QCPDvWRnMv

Race Running was ‘invented’ as an athletics event by Connie Hansen, Danish Paralympic Wheelchair Racing multiple medallist and engineer. The race running bike was developed at the request of Mansoor Siddiqui, a Danish athlete with cerebral palsy who competed in the ‘foot pushing’ category of the Paralympics athletics until it was taken out in 1992. Mansoor wanted an event that meant he could move forwards instead of backwards. As a result, a three-wheel bike with saddle, chest plate and no pedals was developed. The sport is for people with severe and complex cerebral palsy for whom there is no other way of participating in the sport of athletics.

This athletic event has seen tremendous growth over the years, in particular over the last five, and is now recognised by CPISRA (world governing body for sports people with cerebral palsy) as one of its key sports.

Recently, there has been further development to investigate the development of an evidence-based classification system, the training effect on these athletes and the general health and wellbeing of people who participate in race running. If an evidence based classification can be developed, then there is the hope that in the future this may be become a Paralympic athletics event, allowing those athletes for whom there is currently no Paralympic pathway access to the movement.

For the past 19 years, an annual Race Running Camp and Open competition has been held in Copenhagen, Denmark. This year was the 20th anniversary of the event and also incorporated the 3rd Open European Race Running Championships. 82 Race Runners from 11 countries attended for the full week, the largest race running event in the world this year. A team of five Scottish athletes took part in the camp and championships. Alongside the Scottish athletes, coaches and supporters were a team of researchers from Edinburgh and Queen Margaret Universities who collected data using a variety of tests as the start of developing the evidence based classification system.

The athletes who attended were Matthew Doig, (Perth and Perth Strathtay Harriers), Gavin Drysdale (Ayr and Red Star AC), Lauren Gallagher (Glasgow and Red Star AC), Harris Menshawi (Forth Valley Flyers and Red Star AC) AND Elain Boyd (Edinburgh). They participated in the camp from Monday to Thursday and then the Open Championships on Friday and Saturday.

All five athletics set at least one personal best and Gavin, Matthew and Elaine were multi medallists (Matthew and Gavin five golds each and Elaine one gold and two silvers). For Lauren and Harris, it was their first time at the Camp and Championships. Both were internationally classified and set multiple personal bests in their events.

This is the largest Scottish contingent to attend the Camp and race running is steadily developing across Scotland. There are athletes participating in race running from as far south as Dumfries and Galloway to Shetland in the North as well in the West and across the East. For further information contact Peter Drysdale at mpdrysdale@aol.com.

Photo: L-R, Gavin, Harris, Lauren, Matthew and Elaine

The British Paralympic Association (BPA) today announced the 11 athletes and two guides who will compete for ParalympicsGB as Para-triathlon makes its debut onto the Paralympic programme at Rio 2016.

Amongst the ParalympicsGB team is the current European Champion Alison Patrick. Alison is a member of West Lothian Triathlon Club and competes in the PT5 classification for athletes with a visual impairment, along with guide Hazel Smith from Edinburgh. The pair have been extremely successful during the Rio 2016 cycle.

Jonathon Riall, Team Leader and Head Coach for Para-triathlon, said: “The last few years have been a race to qualify slots and to ensure that we are ready to take on anything that the rest of the world throws at us in competition. Standards are rising quickly in this sport because it is so new.”

“I believe we have selected the best possible British team, which has the potential to win medals and make its mark as Para-triathlon debuts at the Paralympic Games. I am looking forward to seeing them take to the biggest stage in disability sport.”

For a full report please see the link below: http://rio.paralympics.org.uk//news/article/british-para-triathletes-ready-to-enter-the-history-books

A team of 10 boccia athletes and four competition partners have today been announced by the British Paralympic Association (BPA), for the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Scottish Disability Sport is absolutely delighted to have such a high representation within the team with six players and two ramp assistants.

The selected team also includes Ayrshire brothers, Jamie and Scott, who play together in the BC3 pair’s competition and against each other in the individual competition regularly on the international circuit. Linda McCowan, mother of the brothers, will take on the role of ramp assistant for Jamie, while Dad Gary is Scott’s ramp assistant, meaning the whole family will be in competition in Rio.

Speaking today, Jamie said: “I’m made up to be competing at my first Paralympic Games, it was a really special moment for the family to share when we heard the news. I’ve learnt a lot from Scott’s experience at London 2012, and it will help form part of my preparations for Rio. I’ve been working really hard on improving every aspect of my game and I can’t wait to go out there and compete.”

Joining the McCowan family in the BC3 category will be Patrick Wilson from Edinburgh, who won a 2014 World Championship silver medal in the BC3 pair with Scott McCowan. Patrick is the youngest member of the squad and competes in his first Paralympic Games.

In the BC4 category, World Champion Stephen McGuire (South Lanarkshire) and Kieran Steer (Fife) are joined by England’s Evie Edwards. The trio won a team silver medal at the 2015 BISFed European Championships.

Joshua Row (Perth) makes up the Scottish contingent and he will compete in the BC2 singles and the BC1/BC2 team event. Josh has also had success on the international stage where he was part of the BC1/BC2 team that won bronze at the BIsFed Boccia World Championships 2014.

Finally, Scottish Disability Sport is delighted that former Pathways Manager, Claire Morrison, will be in attendance as Head Coach and will lead the BC1, BC2 and BC4 players at the Games. Claire has worked tirelessly over this Paralympic Cycle and will ensure the players are at their very best to compete at the highest level.

Today’s announcement highlights the strength of the Scottish programme and everyone at SDS wish the GB Team all the very best.

Selected athletes are:

BC1 David Smith (competition partner: Sarah Nolan)
Home town: Eastleigh

BC2 Nigel Murray
Home town: Leamington Spa

BC2 Joshua Rowe
Home town: Perth

BC2 Claire Taggart
Home town: Larne

BC3 Patrick Wilson (competition partner: Kim Smith)
Home town: Edinburgh

BC3 Jamie McCowan (competition partner: Linda McCowan)
Home town: Dundonald, Ayrshire

BC3 Scott McCowan (competition partner: Gary McCowan)
Home town: Dundonald, Ayrshire

BC4 Stephen McGuire
Home town: Hamilton

BC4 Kieran Steer
Home town: Crossgates, Fife

BC4 Evie Edwards
Home town: Ipswich

Two sporting superstars showed they have more than one string to their bow by trying the sport of archery.

Aileen Neilson and Michael McCreadie have competed at 10 Paralympic Games between them and are currently members of the GB Paralympic Curling Team. They both shot plenty of golds during the session. Competition was fierce with Michael forging ahead and Aileen coming a close second.

If you would like to find out more about archery information can be found on our Archery fact sheet here.