Paralympic stars set to lead Great Britain at World Wheelchair Basketball Championships

Nine members of ParalympicsGB’s Rio 2016 wheelchair basketball side will be back in global action this summer after being named in Great Britain’s World Championship squad.

The 12-woman squad will head to the courts of Hamburg, Germany, in August for one of wheelchair basketball’s premier competitions, with tournament-winning experience already behind them.

A large proportion of the squad won gold at the Women’s U25 World Championships back in 2015, while only three of the 12 were not part of the squad that finished fourth at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, missing out on bronze to the Netherlands.

Yet the side still holds a balance of both youth and experience, with an average age of just 23, while form is also in their favour after winning the recent Lyon Wheelchair Basketball Competition without losing a game.

Four years ago the British side finished fifth at the World Championships but, with the squad enjoying a plethora of tournaments together, there’s a feeling more could be in the offing in Germany.

“Many of the athletes selected for the 2018 World Championships were part of the squad that won gold at the 2015 Women’s U25 World Championships in Beijing, so there is a very cohesive and confident feel to the team,” said GB women’s head coach Miles Thompson.

“Defensively this team is strong in understanding our half court and full court principles. Offensively the squad is getting better every day.

“The pool stage is a tough challenge. Our aim is to exit it with a high seed, so that the quarter-final crossover is to GB’s advantage.

“We are in a strong pool but we know if we play at our best we are a nightmare for all the other teams.”

That strong pool features defending champions Canada, while Spain, Brazil, Australia and the Netherlands make up the rest of Pool A.

Great Britain will reach the quarter-finals with a top-four place in the group stage, while the medal matches will take place on August 25.

And with the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games getting ever closer, it is tournaments like this than can help determine how far the British squad can go over the next few years.

Great Britain squad for the 2018 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships: Sophie Carrigill, Charlotte Moore, Kayla Bell, Leah Evans, Joy Haizelden, Laurie Williams, Siobhan Fitzpatrick, Robyn Love, Maddie Thompson, Amy Conroy, Helen Freeman, Jude Hamer