GB lose to South Korea in world boccia team final

2 years ago 29

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Northern Ireland's Claire Taggart has missed out on the chance to win a second gold medal at the World Boccia Championships after Great Britain lost the final of the team event.

Taggart and team-mates David Smith and Will Hipwell fell to a 6-5 defeat by South Korea in a tight final.

GB were 4-0 up after three ends but South Korea hit back to win gold in Rio.

Larne's Taggart won the singles title in the BC2 category on Saturday.

After defeating Argentina 10-1 in their semi-final, Taggart, Smith and Hipwell raced into a 4-0 lead in the decider.

However, South Korea picked up four points in the fourth end to level the match and they moved clear with two points in the fifth end.

The GB team pulled one back in a tense final end but fell short by one point.

Taggart made history by becoming the first person from Northern Ireland to compete at the Paralympics in boccia at Rio in 2016, and went to participate again at the delayed Tokyo Paralympics in 2021.

In July, she secured her first World Cup titles in Portugal, winning individual gold before helping Great Britain clinch BC1/2 team gold.

Englishman Smith, who is now based in Swansea, is Britain's most successful boccia player. with three Paralympic gold medals.

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