The European Wheelchair Rugby Championships started on Wednesday of this week at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
The championships last for 5 days and involve teams like Great Britain, France and Germany.
This blog is about the first 3 days of the championship so I will be splitting it into 3 sections with the first being about the opening day.
Wheelchair Rugby Explained
Wheelchair rugby consists of 4 eight minute periods with a 3 minute interval at the conclusion of the first and third periods.
A 10 minute interval is held after the conclusion of the second period for half time.
There can only be 4 players on court from each team at any one time. These teams are mixed gender so you will see both men and women on court during matches.
A spherical ball is used for the game of wheelchair rugby and it has a circumference of 65-67 centimetres.
The match ball must weigh between 260 and 280 grams.
When scoring a try players must pass the opposing team’s try line and have firm control of the ball.
The contact of wheelchairs is permitted in wheelchair rugby however hitting an opponent’s chair behind the rear wheel and making physical contact with an opponent results in penalisation.
Teams have 40 seconds to score a try once they have possession of the ball and this is measured by a countdown clock.
A player who has possession of the ball must either pass or dribble it at least once every 10 seconds.
The Competing Teams
France and Germany are in Pool A with the Netherlands and Czech Republic.
Great Britain are in Pool B with Denmark, Switzerland and Israel.
Day One – Wednesday the 3rd of May 2023
Paralympic champions, Great Britain opened the tournament against Israel and ran out 55 – 32 winners.
The second match of the day saw the Netherlands take on France and it was the French who won the first match of Pool A by 52 points to 43
The third and penultimate match of the first day of competition saw the Danish take on the Swiss in Pool B. It was the Danish who ran out 60-46 winners.
The final match of the day was in Pool A and saw the German’s take on the Czech Republic and it was the German’s who won by 60 points to 44.
Day Two – Thursday the 4th of May 2023
The first match of Day 2 saw Israel take on Denmark in Pool B and it was the Danish who won the match by 68 points to 43
The second match of Day 2 saw the Swiss take on Paralympic champion’s Great Britain and it was Great Britain who clinched victory by 47 points to 31
The third match of the day saw the Czech Republic take on the French in Pool A. It was the French who won the penultimate match of the second day of competition by 67 points to 24.
The fourth and final match of day 2 saw the Dutch take on the German’s in pool A and it was the German’s who ran out 54 – 48 winners.
Day 3 – Friday the 5th of May 2023
The first match of day 3 saw the Swiss take on Israel in pool B and it was the Swiss who won the match by 50 points to 46.
The second match of day 3 saw the Czech Republic take on the Dutch and it was the Dutch who won the match by 66 points to 34.
The third match of the day saw the French take on the German’s in Pool A and it was the French who ran out 63-39 winners.
The final match of day 3 saw Great Britain take on Denmark in Pool B and it was Great Britain who won by 52 points to 45.
Great Britain ,Denmark, Germany and France advance to the semifinals which take place tomorrow, Saturday 6th of May 2023.
My highlight of the last 3 days in Cardiff has to be Great Britain winning both of their opening matches against Israel & Switzerland.
Coral Batey one of the GB players came and sat next to me in one of the wheelchair sections after their opening match of the championships on Wednesday.
I wanted to write a blog about visiting the Wheelchair Rugby European Championships in Cardiff because I have passion for disability sport.
I would like to end in my normal way by taking this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you, my readers and followers for taking the time out of your busy schedules to read my latest blog.
Cam
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