MADRID, 11 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish wheelchair rugby team finished fifth in European B in the Skien category (Norway), one step away from fighting for promotion to the highest category.
After falling in Group A with Austria (62-60), the Netherlands (54-31) and Israel (42-43) and beating Poland (46-38), they beat Sweden from fifth to eighth place ( 53-37) and again to the Poles (45-42).
The progression experienced by wheelchair rugby in Spain has been exponential in recent years since its creation in 2018 and the international debut in 2019 in European C, to the point that, currently, there are eight clubs competing in the National League .
The Spanish team was composed of Christian Javier Páez Paredes, Javier Quiles, Juan Tijan, Marc Subiron and Marta Llauradó Gómez (BUC Universitari), Oriol Monras, Pau Navarro Baches and Pau Obregon (Spartans Granollers), Edgar Escolan and Unai Gonzalvo (Adapta Zaragoza ) and Demetrio González Romero (CAAD Sevilla Quad Rugby).
The coaching staff was made up of David Campón (national coordinator and team manager), Nicolás Coste (national coach), Mariano Hurtado and Carlos González (assistant coaches) and Silvia Montero Cuevas (physiotherapist).
“You have to be satisfied with the work done, we are a young team, the last country to join the international competition circuit”, declared David Campón.
This European was qualifying for the next continental championship in Cardiff (Wales) in May 2023. In this tournament three places were up for grabs. To pass the round you had to be among the first two in the group, something that Spain did not achieve, and from those four teams came the winners and the three places. The final victory went to the Netherlands, the silver went to Israel and the bronze to the Czech Republic.