Great Britain announce squad for Wheelchair Rugby World Championships
Great Britain has announced the 12 players that will do battle at GIO 2018 Wheelchair Rugby World Championships in Sydney, Australia from 5-10 August 2018.
The team of 12 includes a balance of youth and experience with five athletes making their World Championship debuts and veteran Jonathan Coggan, from Chelmsford, competing for a record fourth time.
Chris Ryan who plays for the London Wheelchair Rugby Club and lives in Welwyn Garden City continues as Captain, with former Sheffield Fire Fighter Gavin Walker as Vice-Captain.
Aaron Phipps (pictured above) from Southampton returns to the world stage for the first time since the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Since 2012, he has continued playing club rugby for Solent Sharks and in May 2016 climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in his wheelchair, reaching the summit on his knees! He returned to international rugby in January of this year and made his mark at the King Power Quad Nations in March.
GB Wheelchair Rugby which lost all of its UK Sport funding at the start of the Tokyo cycle is currently ranked fifth in the world and are the reigning European Champions.
They have been drawn in Pool B for the championships with USA ranked No 2 and Canada No 3. France, Poland and Colombia make up the rest of the group. Pool A includes current World and Paralympic champions Australia, Paralympic bronze medallists Japan and Sweden, Denmark, Ireland and New Zealand.
Great Britain will be hoping to fight through for a place in the knockout stages and increase their world ranking.
David Pond, Chief Executive of Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby, said:
"This is an exciting team selection with a number of good ball-handlers and some strong strike lines. It’s ‘the Worlds’ so it’s a tough competition and we will need to be at our absolute best if we are to get through to the final stages. Preparation has been good and even though our limited budget has stopped us being able to play in the big pre-world tournaments, I believe in this team – we can do well!"
Head Coach, Paul Shaw said:
"We’ve selected an exciting squad to take into the World Championships, I’m confident we can do something special."
