Liverpool 2018: By the numbers

Before the 2018 World Boccia Championships hit off on 12 August in Liverpool, Great Britain, here are some numbers to know:

190 athletes will compete.

33 countries will be represented.

7 medal events – four individual (BC1, BC2, BC3 and BC4) and three team events (BC1-2 team, BC3 pairs and BC4 pairs).

10 athletes from the host nation. David Smith and Stephen McGuire are currently ranked No. 1 in the world in the BC1 and BC4, respectively.

2016 – The year the last World Championships were held. It was only for individual events. The last Worlds with both individual and team events was in 2014, also in Beijing, China.

11 returning individual medallists from the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Great Britain’s David Smith, Hong Kong’s Yuk Wing Leung, South Korea’s Jeong Ho Won and Thailand’s Watcharaphon Vongsa all enter as reigning Paralympic champions.

10 returning individual medallists from the 2016 Worlds.

1 – Jeong is the only athlete who holds both Paralympic and world titles coming into Liverpool. Great Britain’s Stephen McGuire and Thailand’s Worawut Saengampa are out to defend their world golds.

8 preliminary pool stages for each of the individual medal events – 32 in total – before the knockout rounds take place.

4 pool stages for the three team events.

6 – The number of balls each athlete/team plays with to get closest to the jack. There are six blue and six red balls.

7 athletes have been name on the International Paralympic Committee’s “Ones to Watch” list ahead of Liverpool 2018.