GREAT Britain women’s wheelchair basketball team have booked their place at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
They recorded a hard-fought 54-50 success in a tight encounter against Spain yesterday to seal their qualification from the European Wheelchair Basketball Championships at the University of Worcester Arena.
The leading four nations in the women’s competition all qualify for the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
The GB men’s team will today be bidding for a place in the European semi-finals af - ter securing a last-eight berth.
They achieved a spot in the quarter-finals after a gritty 70- 58 victory against Spain, the 2013 European bronze medallists.
However, it has been a mixed campaign for the British men who opened their Group ‘A’ programme with an emphatic 92-42 success against the Czech Republic.
GB suffered an 85-73 defeat against Poland, a disappointing 89-55 loss to Germany but recorded an 80-46 triumph against France.
GB men are among eight teams to have qualified for the last eight, with only the top five nations in the men’s section automatically qualifying for the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
Great Britain women’s team opened their successful European campaign with a 72-23 victory against Turkey.
They comfortably overcame France, 79-37, and Italy, 69-10, but slipped to a 53-39 defeat against an impressive German side.
The semi-finals of the men’s and women’s events are scheduled to take place tomorrow, with the bronze medal matches and the finals on Sunday.
There have already been plenty of thrills and spills in an explosive indoor competition, which has been thoroughly enjoyed by the people of Worcester.
The event marks a year until the Rio 2016 Paralympics and Europe’s leading wheelchair basketball stars have been a familiar sight around Worcester.
The European Wheelchair Basketball Championships forms part of UK Sport’s National Lottery funded EveryRoadtoRio programme, which targets events that will support the nation’s athletes in their preparation.
To deliver the European event in the city, British Wheelchair Basketball have teamed up with the University of Worcester.
The two organisations have both been fully supported by Worcestershire County Council, along with Worcester City Council and Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership
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