14 August 2018
Bywater wants to use World Championships as launchpad for Tokyo 2020
When it comes to wheelchair basketball there’s not much that Terry Bywater hasn’t seen or achieved – but there’s still an itch to scratch for the Paralympian.
The 35-year-old has been in the sport for two decades and been to an incredible five Paralympic Games going all the way back to Sydney in 2000.
Bywater has won two bronze Paralympic medals in that time, at Athens and Beijing, but his hunger and desire to reach Tokyo is undiminished.
Before that though, there’s the small matter of this year’s World Championships and the chance for Great Britain to make a big statement two years out from Japan.
“Obviously, we must stay very professional and take it game by game, but secretly I’m thinking this could be our year,” he said.
We’ve proved ourselves at a European level by winning it several times and making a lot of finals.
“We have also proved ourselves at Paralympic level by winning Paralympic medals.
“Four years ago, in Korea, we lost one game and then we finished fifth. We have a point to prove now. With the group we’ve got, I think we can go out there and surprise people.
“I’m expecting a very difficult tournament. I’m expecting every match to be very difficult because everyone wants to beat Great Britain.
“I don’t want to use the old cliché ‘to get a bit of luck’, but wheelchair basketball is so close right now. There’s about five or six teams who could genuinely win.”
Wheelchair basketball continues to grow as a sport and Bywater has had a front row seat to its huge development in Great Britain and further afield.
The London 2012 Paralympic Games is still considered a huge turning point for the sport – despite Great Britain missing out on a medal.
Bywater competed for Great Britain at the London 2012 Paralympic Games
Bywater added: “2012 was massive. Like I said, I’ve been to five Paralympics Games and what London did was superb.
“It’s slowly getting bigger. Paralympic sport is getting bigger in general. We want wheelchair basketball to get as big as possible because we believe that it is a fantastic sport.
“It’s great to see people getting involved. Even able-bodied people have started to play the game so it’s an exciting time. Every year wheelchair basketball is different.
“It’s becoming more professional and more people are getting involved. Also, just the general love for the sport has kept me motivated.”
Great Britain face United States, South Korea and Poland in Pool B with their opening game at the World Championships in Hamburg on August 17.
And Bywater is fully aware of the importance of a good performance in the Championships to build vital momentum towards Tokyo in 2020.
“For us it’s massive. It’s the World Championships, it doesn’t get any bigger than that apart from the Paralympic Games,” he said.
“For us it’s massive. It’s the World Championships, it doesn’t get any bigger than that apart from the Paralympic Games
“We want to go out there and prove a huge point – that we are one of the best in the world and in a couple of years in Tokyo we want to go out there and get the business done again.
“The World Championships is huge for us as a group. We’re putting the hard work in because we know how difficult it’s going to be, but the preparation is going pretty well up to now.”
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