Sophie Carrigill: Targeting a Tokyo triumph

IT’S certainly been a fantastic few months for British Wheelchair Basketball’s men’s and women’s line-ups.

First, the women secured their Tokyo 2020 spot with a superb silver medal winning display at the European Championships in Rotterdam in July. The men followed that up by claiming the Euro title – and their Paralympics place – earlier this month.

Coach Haj Bhania’s men claimed their seventh European crown with eight victories from eight in Poland, culminating in a 77-52 triumph over Spain in the final.

Once again a key part of the GB women’s squad, Sophie Carrigill helped her side to a stunning 49-48 semi-final win over Germany. That was before a painful loss in the final to old foes The Netherlands, following defeat to the same opponents in the 2018 World Championships final.

She told Agility: “Obviously getting silver was a great achievement, something we have never done before. But we are always striving to be the best and for the past two years running we have come up short against the Dutch. We are really chasing them and wanting that number one spot so, for me, it was bitter-sweet.”

Despite that, Sophie insists there are plenty of positives to take from both the final and last-four clash with the Germans. “We can definitely play with that team (the Dutch),” the 25-year-old remarked. “It’s more of a learning opportunity every time we play them. We look back at the games and ask ourselves what we could have done better, what worked well, etc.

“The semi-final was so close, just one point in it. We practice a lot of end game scenarios when the match gets close and I think that paid off. Still we are always striving to be better and we know we can dominate that team, not just come away with a one-point win.”

Sophie and her team-mates can now turn their attentions to Tokyo, and a second Paralympic Games for the Yorkshire player who helped GB finish fourth in 2016. She continued: “Obviously that was the first goal at the Europeans and we achieved it! Rio for me was one of the best experiences of my life and I’m excited for this yearlong journey in preparation for Tokyo.

“The target is definitely a medal, I can’t imagine how amazing it would feel to be on that podium at a Paralympics. It’s something completely different to any other tournament we play and means so much. We just have to put in all the hard work on the lead up. “If you see our recent success you can see that we are definitely improving. But so is every other team in the world and we need to always stay ahead of the game and stay focused. You can’t take success for granted.”

It’s been a remarkable journey for Sophie since she first tried wheelchair basketball with the Leeds Spiders team following a car accident in 2010. She explained: “If I’m really honest, to start with I hated it and was so frustrated. I’d been so sporty before my accident, it was the thing I excelled in and then to go completely back to basics was really hard for me. But I persevered!

“I loved the community we have within basketball, that’s what kept me around. I love how inclusive it is for any age, any disability and able-bodied people can even get involved and play.

Now playing at an elite level I just love the competition. I get so excited before we go to a tournament and I really enjoy challenging myself and trying to be the best.”•