Gold medal glory for McGuire at Hong Kong Boccia World Open

Two-time Paralympian Stephen McGuire laid down a marker to his BC4 rivals by winning gold at the Hong Kong Boccia World Open, while fellow Brit Patrick Wilson claimed silver in the BC3 final.

McGuire, ranked third in the world, started day three with a quarter-final clash against top ranked BC4 player Euclides Grisales and raced into a 4-0 lead after the first end.

The 34-year-old picked up a further two points in the second end before sealing a 10-1 victory with four points from the third end, with his rival picking up one point in the final end.

World number eight Davor Komar, from Croatia, proved a much tougher examination in their semi-final, with McGuire trailing 4-3 to his rival after three ends.

But McGuire held his nerve in the final end to pick up two points to edge out Komar 5-4 and set up a final against Hong Kong’s Yuk Wing Leung – ranked 13th in the world.

Another quick start for McGuire allowed him to move quickly into a 4-0 lead after three ends and, despite conceding a point in the final end, he held on to clinch the gold medal.

There was also success for GB in the BC3 classification, with Patrick Wilson continuing his fine run of form by defeating Greece’s Grigorios Polychronidis 4-3 in his quarter-final.

Wilson then raced into a 3-0 lead after the first end against Hong Kong rival Yuen Kei Ho in their last four battle, before eventually emerging triumphant with a 4-2 victory.

And despite falling at the last hurdle against Australian Daniel Michel with a 4-2 defeat in the final, Wilson will still be happy with his tournament after coming away with a silver medal.

Elsewhere, Jamie McCowan defeated Spaniard Wafid Boucherit in his BC3 quarter-final, before losing his semi-final 4-2 to eventual gold medallist Michel.

He went into the bronze medal play-off against Hong Kong’s Yuen Kei Ho and was level after the first two ends before his opponent picked up two points to win 3-1 and seal third place.

Meanwhile, double Paralympic gold medallist David Smith was also in BC1 quarter-final action against Witsanu Huadpradit, but the Brit was beaten 5-2 to end his hopes of a medal.