With 50 days to go until the Worcestershire welcomes Europe’s leading wheelchair basketball nations to the county for the 2015 European Wheelchair Basketball Championships, GB Men’s Head Coach Haj Bhania has announced the 12 players who will be aiming for both an unprecedented third title and a qualifying spot for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
Held at the University of Worcester Arena from the 28th August to the 6th September, the European Wheelchair Basketball Championships forms part of UK Sport’s National Lottery funded #EveryRoadtoRio events series which supports the nation’s athletes in their preparation and qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The GB Men’s Team – who will begin their Championship campaign in Pool A against the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland and Spain – includes six-time Paralympian Simon Munn, with Mark Fosbrook, Lee Manning, and Phil Pratt all making their second major senior appearance for Great Britain.
GB Men’s Head Coach Haj Bhania said: “The depth of talent we have within the Men’s Squad meant that selection was once again a very challenging decision: every athlete has worked incredibly hard both throughout the season and our recent intensive programme.
“We now begin our final preparations for the Championships: our primary focus centring upon developing our units in not only training, but upcoming tournaments – enabling us to refine our play by the start of next month.
“There are never any easy games at a European Championship, but our preparation programme and the invaluable home crowd support will enable us to maximise our potential.”
GB Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team:
- Abdi Jama (32, Liverpool)
- Mark Fosbrook (39, Oswestry)
- Kyle Marsh (25, Wolverhampton)
- Simon Brown (29, Kingsbury, London)
- Ade Orogbemi (37, Liverpool and Hackney, London)
- Harry Brown (21, Halifax)
- Philip Pratt (Cochrane), (21, Cardiff)
- Ian Sagar (33, Barnsley)
- Gaz Choudhry (30, Ealing, London)
- Simon Munn (47, Peacehaven, East Sussex)
- Terry Bywater (32, Redcar, Middlesborough)
- Lee Manning (25, Peterborough)
To deliver the 2015 European Wheelchair Basketball Championships, British Wheelchair Basketball (BWB) has also teamed up with key partner the University of Worcester, with invaluable support from the Worcestershire County Council, Worcester City Council and Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership.
Tickets to this unmissable world class event are available from the Championship website at www.euro2015.uk or through the Box Office on 0844 888 9991.