London 2012 Paralympics: McGuires edged out by narrowest margin in Boccia

IT WAS cycling’s equivalent of the width of a tyre or an athletics dip at the line – but it didn’t make boccia brothers Stephen and Peter McGuire’s London 2012 semi-final defeat any easier to take.

The Scottish siblings, from Bellshill, were making their second appearance in as many days at the ExCeL yesterday as the Paralympic BC4 pairs boccia competition began to heat up.

Paralympic debutants Stephen and Peter opened their campaign on Sunday with an impressive 11-0 victory over Slovakia before losing their second outing 4-1 to Canada.

That meant they returned to the ExCeL facing a must-win clash with Thailand and they looked every bit the World Championship silver medallists they are as they won 8-0.

That saw them reach the semi-finals later in the day. However, the defeat by Canada meant they faced stiff opposition in reigning Paralympic and world champions Brazil. They pushed Eliseu dos Santos and Jose Dirceu Pinto all the way, recovering from falling 1-0 down to lead 2-1, but the Brazilians pulled through late on to win 3-2. The margin of victory was minute – three closer to the jack and the end result could have been very different. Stephen revealed afterwards: “It was a very tight match, it came down to millimetres in the end. I am a little disappointed but we played really well and we were unlucky.

“The Brazilians said to us at the end that was the best match they have ever played and they said good luck and please bring back the bronze. They are the Paralympic champs and world champs and we took them that close.

“It was incredible being out there. I have never heard something that like before from a crowd. A match like that allows the crowd to get into it and truly understand how close boccia can be.”

Stephen and Peter return to the ExCeL today for the bronze medal match Canada, who lost their semi-final after a tie-break with the Czech Republic.

They will need to recover as quickly as possible. Emotions were high after the Brazil defeat, but Stephen insists they won’t change anything.. “We will approach the bronze medal match the same way,” Stephen added.

Fellow Scot Scott McCowan’s hopes of a medal as part of Britain’s BC3 pairs team were ended on Sunday, but that didn’t stop him contributing to a 9-1 win over Canada.