Pace’s Reshad Seraj returns home with a medal, having enjoyed a successful week in Finland at this month’s World Boccia Challenger in Pajulathi.
Seeded 5th for the tournament, Reshad considerably outperformed that, collecting a well-earned bronze – as well as a fourth place finish with Team GB in the BC1/2 team event.
After a narrow 5-3 defeat in his opening clash with Ukraine’s Andrii Moroz, Reshad fought back in some style in his second game, a clinical 4-0 dismantling of fourth seed, and world number 16, Marco Dekker from the Netherlands.
You can watch a full replay of that game below, or by clicking this link.
That result saw Reshad top Pool D and advance to a quarter-final against Czech Republic’s Jan Haták. The closely fought game was 1-1 after two ends, but Reshad made his superior quality tell in the back half, running out a 4-1 winner.
You can watch a full replay of that game below, or by clicking this link.
His reward however was a semi-final match up with number one seed, and world number seven, Robert Mezik of Slovakia. Reshad battled hard for a well-earned 2-0 lead after two ends, but ultimately couldn’t quite bring victory home against a very high-quality opponent, losing 5-2 overall.
You can watch a full replay of that game below, or by clicking this link.
A 3rd place playoff against Greece’s Emmanouil Kokonos loomed and here Reshad returned to winning ways once more, securing a 3-2 victory and with it the bronze – another medal to add to his ever-expanding collection.
However withe BC 1/2 team event to come, Reshad’s winning week did not end there. The GB team, which also included David Smith and Kayleigh Brown, cruised through the group stages with four wins from four – including a 14-1 thrashing of Belgium. Unfortunately they just came up short in their semi-final against Slovakia, losing 10-6, before playing out a thriller of a third-place playoff against the Netherlands.
Team GB were five points down going into the final end, but set up by a superb shot from Reshad managed to score the five they needed to level it up at 7-7 and take the game to a tie break. Sadly they were just edged out by the Dutch and had to settle for a fourth place finish.
After a successful week, PACE Boccia look forward to welcoming Reshad back into the side for their upcoming National League fixtures.