Laura Perry aims to win European Championships

Although missing out qualification for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Laura Perry is confident Great Britain can cause a major upset at the 2017 IBSA Goalball European Championships A-Division, set to take place in Lahti, Finland, from 18-22 September.

The British team made it to this year’s Euros after winning the European B-Division in 2016.

“The whole team worked very hard building up to the Euro B last year and it all paid off as we performed to our best,” said Perry. “We are now training hard to try to replicate that success in the Euro A this year.

“We are very excited to have some young and talented players coming through which is great. Our aim is to qualify to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and the up and coming Euros are a stepping stone to that.

“We are hoping to continue our momentum we created in the Euro B in Portugal and hope to show the world our goalball talents.”

Great Britain will face Ukraine, Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Russia* and Turkey in the women’s tournament.

Apart from hosts Finland, Belgium, Great Britain, Ukraine, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovenia, Lithuania and Turkey will face-off in the men’s side.

More information can be found on the competition’s website.

*Editor’s note: The International Paralympic Committee suspended the Russian Paralympic Committee on 7 August 2016 for its inability to fulfil its IPC membership responsibilities and obligations, in particular its obligation to comply with the IPC Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Code (to which it is also a signatory). As a result of the suspension, Russian athletes cannot enter IPC sanctioned events or competitions, including the Paralympic Games. For further information please click here: https://www.paralympic.org/russian-paralympic-committee-suspension