Britain march on to Boccia World Cup with confidence

By Paul Eddison, Sportsbeat, in Manchester

BOCCIA double Paralympic gold medallist Nigel Murray believes his side have laid down a marker with their 10-1 win over Ireland at the BT Paralympic World Cup ahead of this August's World Cup in Belfast.

ON TARGET: Nigel Murray watches closely as he helps Britain on their way to an impressive win over Ireland

Britain trailed surprisingly early on in the exhibition event in Manchester after Ireland sneaked the first end, but they showed why they are reigning Paralympic champions taking the remaining five ends to finish convincing winners against the highly rated Irish team.

Murray was part of the British team which claimed gold in Beijing three years ago, and picked up individual silver to boot.

And now just three months from their biggest event of the season, the 47-year-old is pleased with how the preparation is going.

"We were pleased with that performance," said Murray, who also claimed individual gold in Sydney in 2000.

"We may well play Ireland again at the World Cup so it's nice to lay down a marker.

"With boccia the ends can usually be fairly tight and I felt we were in the driving seat in the first end before they produced a good shot.

"The key is to get the first ball on to the jack which really puts the pressure on any team in the world and we managed to do that throughout.

"We built up the pressure so we were in the driving seat, so even though it was quite tight in each end, we were putting the pressure on them.

"It's a good warm-up for us. We train regularly together as a team, we either meet at the Institute of Sport in Sheffield, or near where I live in Warwick.

"So that's good preparation for us, and playing matches is vital to get ready for the World Cup."

After losing the opening end, Britain fought back and guaranteed the win with five points in the fourth end to take a 7-1 lead.

And with victory virtually assured, Daniel Bentley and David Smith were replaced by Zoe Robinson and Andrew Morgan to give all five players travelling to Belfast some time on the court and seal the win.

The BT Paralympic World Cup is taking place in Manchester from 23-28 May with elite international athletes competing in Swimming, Athletics and Wheelchair Basketball. Go to www.btparalympicworldcup.com for tickets and more information. 

© Sportsbeat 2011