Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby Defend European Crown

GBWR has successfully begun the defence of its European Championship title in Koblentz, Germany, where the squad is taking part in the 2017 IWRF European Division A Championships.  Though there is still a question mark over their 2018 World Championship participation.

Europe’s top eight wheelchair rugby teams meet over the five days of competition - each looking to qualify for next year’s IWRF World Championships in Sydney, Australia - and GBWR began day one with a 57-32 victory over Poland, beating Ireland 65-27 earlier today.

GBWR are the current European Champions but competition is expected to be tough with France, Denmark and Finland all looking strong. GB earn the top seed and are in Group B with Ireland, Poland and Denmark who they take on tomorrow.  The squad will aim to win the group and get through to the final which is at 3.45pm on Saturday 1 July. Group A is made up of Sweden, France, Germany and Finland.

GBWR return seven athletes from the Rio squad including star 3.0 Jim Roberts and world ranked 0.5 Jonny Coggan. There are also some exciting new faces and all eyes will be on high pointer 3.5 Stuart Robinson, an Afghanistan veteran who also represents GB in the Invictus Games.

It has been a tough few months for GBWR, still reeling from the UK Sport decision to cut funding. Chief Executive David Pond comments, “We have a really strong team going in to the European Championships. Since the disappointing funding news it has been tough to keep the athletes motivated and to provide a basic performance programme. I am grateful to those who have rallied to us, especially LMAX Exchange who have come on board as a new partner, and BT who will support us until the end of the year. Regrettably, even if we win this tournament, the jury is out as to whether we can raise the funds to take part in the World Championships next year, though I and others will be doing all we can to try to make this happen.’