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Packed crowds cheer GB to victory on first ever National Paralympic Day

The Copper Box Arena at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park was host to packed crowds and GB victories one year on from the London 2012 Paralympic Games in celebration of the UK’s inaugural National Paralympic Day.


International matches in four sports were contested in the Copper Box Arena, Boccia and Table Tennis in the morning followed by Sitting Volleyball in the afternoon and Wheelchair Basketball to draw the event to a close.


Action commenced with a fiercely contested Boccia match between GB and the reigning Paralympic champions Greece. The close match saw the two teams play evenly throughout with the final result coming down to the last ball – GB took two points handing them the victory with an overall score of 4-2 against the number one ranked team in the world.


GB Boccia captain Scott McCowan said:

“We are really pleased to have won the match today, we were up against such strong competition and we wanted to come out and show them exactly what we can do. I think our performance today has cemented our progress, to take a win against the Paralympic champions and world number ones is a result we’re delighted about. Competing here one year on from London 2012 and having the crowds give us the same level of support that we felt last year has just been great. From a performance perspective, beating the Greek team will really help us with our confidence and focus, and that’s something that we will continue to build on as we head towards the World Championships next year.”


GB’s Table Tennis team were the next in the spotlight with four matches taking place throughout the day. The GB team had stong results with three players winning in confident form over their Brazilian competition - Will Bayley v Paul Salmin (3-0), Ashley Facey-Thompson v Erick Higa (3-1), and Aaron McKibbin v Israel Stoh (2-1).  The team did see one narrow loss from Kim Daybell against Carlos Carbinatti (1-2), but this did not take away from the end result with GB winning 3-1 overall.


Aaron McKibbin, 22-year-old from Wandsworth, who made his Paralympic debut at London 2012 claiming bronze with team-mates Will Bayley and Ross Wilson in the class 6-8 Team event, said:

“I think I played well today, everyone was quite nervous to perform in front of such a big crowd again which we’re not so used to. It’s definitely been a great practice for the Europeans, to get used to playing under that amount of pressure in a big environment is always good. The person I played against was a good player, he’s of a similar standard as me and we always knew it would be a tight match. I was nervous in the first set but once I relaxed in to it I felt I played better and better. The audience were a massive help, I loved being in front of them again and it was great to show that the sport is still there one year on from the Paralympic Games. It’s been great to see today that everyone still cares about Paralympic sport, there’s still so much pride shown in the audience and across the country.”


The afternoon session saw the GB Sitting Volleyball team take on the Netherlands merely weeks ahead of the European Championships. Despite the end result of 3-0 to the Netherlands, the two teams were tightly matched throughout with the away team edging forward with fast-paced winning shots.


Robert Richardson, captain of the Great Britain side, said:

“Today was an amazingly close match with Holland – we lost 3-0 but the scores were really high in each set so it’s a shame that we weren’t able to convert that in to a win. We played great and it’s always disappointing to not come away with a win, especially as it’s on our own turf and we’re coming back here for the first time. Today has all gone towards our preparation for the European Championships which we leave for in a week’s time so it’s great to get some game time. The Netherlands team are actually ranked six or seven places above us in the world, so they’re a good team – we’ve played them before and have matched up pretty well. To be back in the Olympic Park, how cool is this. A year ago it was the final for Sitting Volleyball and here we are back here, it’s great for all of us.”


The last sporting action of the day took place between GB and Spain in Wheelchair Basketball. The GB women’s team put in a dominant performance, ultimately running-away with a 15-point margin with a final score of 65-50.


Maddie Thompson, 18-years-old from Hope Valley, said:

“The team played so well today, we have a lot of new and inexperienced players and it’s been great to see them get some international court time. Spain are a really good side, we beat them at the European Championships and it’s clear to see that they have developed their team as today was a challenge. We’re a confident team at the moment and that was shown towards the end of the match when so many points were going up on the board. If you’re confident, then you’re shooting more and hopefully scoring – our confidence worked for us today. This event has just reminded us so much of playing at London 2012, I was getting goose bumps in the changing room because we were right back here again one year on. The crowd, the atmosphere, the music, everything has just been brilliant.”


On an auspicious date which has seen the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games announcement and marks the year anniversary of London 2012, six months to the Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi and three years until the Games get underway in Rio, thousands of spectators visited The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to watch Paralympic sport, visit the Mayor of London’s Liberty festival and to take part in community sports activities to celebrate National Paralympic Day.