Tricky start for Brits at European Championships

Tokyo 2021

Great Britain Women saw their hopes of making to the knockout stages of the European Sitting Volleyball Championships dented with two defeats in Budapest.

The competition’s overall winners automatically qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games but early defeats to Finland and Ukraine have made that tricky for head coach Ian Legrand’s team.

The Brits were pitted against Finland for their Group B opening match but could not avoid a 3-0 defeat despite going very close in the second set, ultimately losing 25-23, with the first finishing 25-15 and the third 25-6.

Legrand arrived in Hungary with a squad packed full of Paralympic experience with seven members, including captain Vicky Widdup, playing at London 2012.

But it was more of the same when they met Ukraine in their second game of the day for another 3-0 defeat, this time going down 25-18 25-12 25-19.

Great Britain will now face Italy on July 16 before their final game in Group B against Russia on July 17.

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