Bronze for British boccia trio at Hong Kong World Open

Two-time Paralympian Stephen McGuire completed a memorable week by adding a BC4 pairs bronze to his individual gold on the final day of the Hong Kong Boccia World Open.

McGuire teamed up with fellow Paralympian Evie Edwards and Louis Saunders to overcome the People’s Republic of China 6-1 in their play-off for third place.

The trio had stormed into the semi-finals after progressing from their pool with two wins from three to set up an encounter with Hong Kong for a place in the final.

But they found the hosts in impressive form as they raced into a 3-0 lead after the first end. The Brits hit back with a point in the second, only for Hong Kong to seal a 5-1 triumph.

McGuire and his cohorts quickly put that disappointment behind them, though, as they produced a stunning 6-1 victory against China to secure the final podium place.

The bronze was Great Britain’s third medal of the event, following McGuire’s brilliant gold in the individual BC4 final and Patrick Wilson’s silver in the BC3 category.

Wilson was also back in action on the final day with BC3 pairs teammates Jamie McCowan and Jessica Hunter but the trio were unable to add to GB’s medal haul.

Their day started with a hard-fought 3-3 draw with Greece in their last Pool A game to finish the group stages unbeaten and set up a semi-final against Thailand.

But the team of Somboon Chaipanich, Ekkarat Chaemchoi and Ladamanee Kla-Han proved too strong and secured their place in the final with a 5-0 triumph.

A play-off against Australia for bronze awaited the GB trio and after closing the deficit to a point with two ends to play, they eventually lost the tie 5-3.