Britain recently won a silver medal in the 2011 European Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland and are ranked sixth in the world.

They are likely to be medal contenders at the London 2012 Paralympics this summer and hope to put down a marker at the test event but they face a tough task to do so as they go up against reigning Paralympic silver medallists Australia, reigning Paralympic bronze medallists Canada and a strong outfit from Sweden ranked fourth in the world.

The 11 strong British squad features captain Steve Brown of Sittingbourne, Aaron Phipps of Southampton, David Anthony of Neath, Ross Morrison of Farnborough, Myles Pearson of Lytham St Anne's, Mike Kerr of Glasgow, Jonathan Coggan of Essex, Kylie Grimes of Surrey, London pair Andrew Barrow and Bulbul Hussain, and finally Mandip Sehmi of Leamington Spa.

There will be particular focus on Sehmi, who is considered the poster boy of the team after being turned into a cartoon as part of the popular series involving London 2012 mascots Wenlock and Mandeville.

He is also an athlete ambassador for London 2012 Tier Two sponsor Cadbury and has played a key role in their marketing campaigns around the Paralympics.


The 30-year-old (pictured) had a spinal cord injury when he broke his neck in a car crash in 2000 and spent a year recovering at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

At the hospital, he met Bob O'Shea of the Great Britain national wheelchair rugby team, whose wife was a nurse at the hospital.

He asked Sehmi to come train wheelchair rugby in a location near the hospital and he has since gone on to become one of Britain's key players, having been part of the team that won gold at the IWRF European Championship in both 2005 and 2007.

He will be hoping for another gold at the test event and GBWR chief executive David Pond feels the team have a strong chance as they are going from strength to strength.

"The team has put in some excellent performances against strong opposition recently," Pond said.

"Their GB Cup win against Japan, currently ranked third in the world, was a clear sign that coach Tom O'Connor's strategy and development of players was starting to pay dividends.

"This was further demonstrated by the silver medal they brought home from Switzerland where they played against strong opposition from Belgium, Sweden and France amongst others, and signals that they're certainly in a position to challenge for Paralympic gold."

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