The GB Men’s and GB Women’s squads have been announced for the upcoming 2022 IWBF World Championships, which take place in June.
Originally scheduled for November 2022, the competition gets underway on the 9th June in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 28 of the best men’s and women’s national teams from across the globe will compete in the competition.
Both squads feature a strong blend of experience and youth, with several Paralympians heading out onto the court alongside players earning their GB senior vests for the first time.
GB Men head into the competition as defending champions, having won the title in 2018. Notably today’s squad announcement marks Terry Bywater’s sixth consecutive World Championship selection, drawing on a legacy of high-level competition experience to light up the courts in Dubai. Recent IWBF Champions Cup and BSR league winners Harry Brown, Ben Fox, Lee Manning, Charlotte Moore and Phil Pratt have been selected. The 2018 World Championships MVP Gregg Warburton and Copa del Rey winner James MacSorley will also feature for GB this June.
Investment in the development of talented players is visible across the selections as five of the selected Men’s team athletes won the 2017 U23 World Championships (Palmer, Fox, Warburton, MacSorley, Fryer), and four of the Women’s team won the 2015 U25s World Championships (Haizelden, Carrigill, Moore, Fitzpatrick).
Marking their debut for GB in their first senior international appearances are Lee Fryer, Maddie Martin and Ellan Fraser.
The GB coaches have been hard at work preparing the teams ahead of the busy summer schedule. Bill Johnson and Joey Johnson, coaching team for the GB Men’s squad, have experienced success on the world stage in previous coaching roles with Canada and have been preparing the GB Men for the challenges ahead. Leading the GB Women is Head Coach Miguel Vaquero Maestre, working intently across the programme to ensure the athletes are prepared physically and mentally ahead of the World Championships.
Athletes across both squads are sure to bring significant power and energy onto the courts in Dubai, with masses of supporters at home and abroad cheering them on. A summer of GB action awaits as the European Championships 2023 follows closely behind in August, taking place in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. We will be bringing you all the action across both squads across these exciting competitions!
GB Men
#5 – Simon Brown – 2.0
#6 – Kyle Marsh – 2.0
#7 – Terry Bywater – 4.5
#9 – Harry Brown – 2.5
#11 – Phil Pratt – 3.0
#12 – Gregg Warburton – 2.0
#13 – Martin Edwards – 4.0
#14 – Lee Manning – 4.5
#15 – Ben Fox – 3.5
#16 – Jim Palmer – 1.0
#17 – James MacSorley – 2.0
#18 – Lee Fryer – 4.0
GB Women
#4 – Charlotte Moore – 1.0
#5 – Sophie Carrigill – 1.0
#6 – Kayla Bell – 1.5
#7 – Helen Freeman – 4.0
#9 – Jude Hamer – 4.0
#12 – Lucy Robinson – 4.5
#13 – Siobhán Fitzpatrick – 3.0
#14 – Joy Haizelden – 2.5
#16 – Jade Atkin – 4.5
#17 – Maddie Martin – 3.0
#18 – Ellan Fraser – 3.0
#19 – Adele Atkin – 1.0
