Two Paralympic quotas up for grabs as Cardiff hosts first Wheelchair Rugby qualifier

From May 3-7 2023, eight of Europe’s top wheelchair rugby nations (Great Britain, France, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Israel, Netherlands, Switzerland) will collide at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Up for grabs is not only the European title, but qualification to the Paris 2024 Paralympics for the finalists.

Reigning Paralympic Champions Great Britain are the odds on favourite for the title, but you can never count out Reigning European Champions France, and 2022 World Championships fourth place finisher Denmark.

Host-nation France has already secured a Paralympic quota, which leaves seven nations left fighting for two spots. Barring disaster, Great Britain should secure one of those spots. Denmark is also likely to secure a spot, although I wouldn’t count out Germany.

There’ll be a few key names to keep an eye out for as competition gets underway. French captain Jonathan Hivernat (3.0) is an absolute cardio machine. Don’t be surprised to see him play every minute in some of the more crucial matches. Eric Peters (3.5) was a big reason why Denmark qualified for the previous Paralympics in wheelchair rugby for the first time. His speed up and down the court and his strength to maintain possession or win the ball back for the team through brute force is a major advantage for the Danes. Great Britain’s Johnny Coggan, is arguably one of the greatest 0.5 players of all time, and boasts an impressive five Paralympic Games in his resume (2004-2020). Coggan is known to create plenty of headaches for the worlds best attacking players, his ability to defensively positioning himself makes it very difficult for opposition to get through. Also from Great Britain is Aaron Phipps (3.5), who scored an impressive eleven tries against United States in the Tokyo 2020 gold medal match, and will look to be a factor again here.

The Opening Ceremony of the 2023 Wheelchair Rugby European Championships is on May 3, with the first four play matches occurring the very same day. On May 4-5, pool play continues, and on May 6, classification round matches, 7th/8th place matches, and semifinals take place. 5th/6th place matches, bronze medal match, and gold medal match are on May 7.

Josh, Totallympics

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