Head coach Shaw targets European Championships for Paralympics spot

Great Britain wheelchair rugby head coach Paul Shaw is targeting the European Championships for a Paralympic qualification spot.

The Brits are favourites to retain their European title when the competition gets underway in August in Denmark.

And Shaw has already announced his team for the competition following a win at the Lakeshore Quad Nations tournament.

The team includes Johnny Coggan, Ryan Cowling, Jamie Stead and Jim Roberts, all of whom won best in their classification at the Lakeshore tournament.

Chris Ryan returns to the team following an injury which prevented him travelling to the USA, and Afghanistan veteran Stuart Robinson also makes the team.

The gold and silver medal winners in Denmark will also gain automatic qualification for the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

Britain are currently ranked fourth in the world and will get their tournament underway on Wednesday August 7 against Switzerland who are currently ranked 15th in the world.

“This tournament has an added significance because the winners and runners up qualify for the 2020 Paralympic Games and we want to nail our place at the first opportunity,” said Shaw.

“We have selected a squad to do that but we need to be clinical in our performances – the likes of France, Sweden and Denmark are more than capable of beating us and we need to maintain our discipline and focus.”

David Pond, Chief Executive of Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby, added; “Everything we do now is about building towards Tokyo 2020 and this tournament is another important step on the road.

“I’m excited by the way the athletes in this squad want to play for one another and accept responsibility for their performances on court – their improvement over the last 12 months has been impressive, particularly when you consider that the loss of UK Sport funding means that the performance programme is limited in the support it provides.

“I am hugely grateful to the many individuals and sponsors who are funding this team especially our recently appointed principal sponsor ISPS Handa.”

Great Britain squad for 2019 European Championships

Kylie Grimes

Jonathan Coggan

Ryan Cowling

Nick Cummins

Chris Ryan

Gavin Walker

Jamie Stead

Jim Roberts

Aaron Phipps

Stuart Robinson