GB Wheelchair Rugby win gold in Finland and qualify for Beijing

The Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby team succeeded in their bid to qualify for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games by winning their third consecutive European Championship crown.

The GB side remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, winning all five of their round-robin Games against Ireland (40-15), Finland (18-16), Switzerland (25-21), Austria (54-28) and Belgium (30-25) - which saw them finish top of their group.

The team then beat Sweden with a narrow 21-20 victory to book their place in the final against Germany, who had also won all their games in the run up to the final.

Having already qualified their place for Beijing, all that was left to play for was the title and GB was determined to win. Despite a closely fought contest with the German side it was GB who eventually triumphed with a 28-26 victory.

Chief executive of Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby (GBWR) Jean Collingwood said: “The competition has been tough with some surprises along the way - such as Finland, who -as the home nation - proved to be testing opponents.

“The 12-man squad however proved GB are tough competition and succeeded in maintaining their dominance in Europe. The guys train and work hard 24/7, 52 weeks a year and nothing gets in the way of competition success.

“Our next mission is to do well in Beijing - now we have qualified - but London 2012 is also high on our agenda, with a strong vision of being a centrepiece in all the excitement and winning gold in front of a home crowd.”

GB - who just missed the podium at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games finishing 4th - are now three-time consecutive champions of Europe, having previously won in both 2003 and 2005.

The full squad competing at the tournament includes newcomers John Burgess (Sunderland), Chris Ellis (Wolverhampton) and Mandip Sehmi (Leamington Spa) as well as Athens 2004 Paralympic Games squad members Alan Ash (Wolverhampton), Paul Shaw (Birmingham), Andy Barrow (London), Troye Collins (London), Justin Frishberg (London), Steve Palmer (Bexley, Kent), Jason Roberts (Oswestry), Jonathan Coggan (Chelmsford, Essex) and Ross Morrison (Fareham, Hants).

The 2007 Wheelchair Rugby European Championships took place in Espoo, Finland from June 2 to 9, 2007. The event was an opportunity for the top European sides to qualify for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, with only the top two sides going through. For full results visit http://www.wheelchairrugby2007.info

For more information about the Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby team visit www.gbwr.co.uk