Reegan Stevenson has made significant progress in the sport of boccia and this was highlighted at the recent European Open in Croatia.
As a member of the Boccia UK transition programme he made his Great Britain debut in the BC1 individual and BC1/2 Team competitions. Individually Reegan was competitive in each match and although he lost all three group games each were by the tightest of margins. (Katinka Langauer (HUN) 3-2, Aurelie Aubert (FRA), 2-2, Serafin Rodriguez (ESP), 4-2)
However, Reegan made his mark as a member of the BC1/2 Team competition, alongside David Smith MBE and Claire Taggart. After a disappointing 5-4 defeat against Turkey they responded well against host nation Croatia with an 8-4 victory. Knowing that victory against Spain would see them into the semi-finals they bounced back magnificently after losing 4 in the first end to win 9-4. They took this energy and momentum into the semi-final against Ukraine, where a dominant display earned them a 10-3 victory and a place in the final against Slovakia. In a tight match, that came down to the wire, GB made it over the line with a 4-3 victory. As a combination, all three players performed exceptionally, and it was great way to finish the first tournament of the year on a high for Great Britain.
Elsewhere, experienced campaigner, Scott McCowan, was a late addition to the individual competition and came in as the top seed. Winning his group games in comfortable fashion (10-0 v Elisabeth Wilhelmsen (NOR) and Viktoriia Shcherbyna (UKR). He then faced German, Petra Benharket in the quarter finals winning 5-1 to set up a semi-final against GB debutant Will Arnott. After losing 3 in the first end, Scott fought his way back into the game so that it was all square going into the final end. It came down to the last ball and after a tight measure Will won the game 4-3. Scott bounced back well to secure Bronze with a 4-1 victory over Christoffer Hagdahl of Sweden.
Other results involving Great Britain players:
BC2 Individual Silver: Claire Taggart
BC3 Individual Silver: Will Arnott
Photo courtesy of Claire Morrison