Paralympics World Cup on Channel 4

May 22, 2011   ·   0 Comments

Channel 4 will screen coverage of The Paralympic World Cup – the world’s most prestigious annual Paralympic sports festival which takes place in Manchester from the 23–28 May.

An annual event since 2005, the World Cup has always attracted the very best sports men and women, and its significance is even greater this year with the London Paralympics of 2012 just 15 months away. The event will be held at the Manchester Regional Arena and the Manchester Aquatics Centre and will cover a range of events including athletics, wheelchair basketball, swimming and this year, Boccia and sitting volleyball.

The 2010 competition saw 303 athletes from 28 countries compete, with 255 medals awarded and four world records smashed in the swimming pool, so expect more record breakers in 2011.

Wheelchair basketball will see men’s teams from GB, France, Canada and Brazil and women’s teams from GB, Canada, Japan and Germany, competing at the Regional Arena from May 23-26, in a round robin tournament.

Athletics will take place at the Regional Arena on Friday May 27 whils the swimming competition takes place on Saturday May 28, during Channel 4’s live broadcast coverage of the event.

Two international matches are also being staged during the World Cup, they are sitting volleyball at the Manchester Regional Arena on Wednesday May 25 and boccia at the same venue on Thursday May 26.

Channel 4 will stream live coverage of the events at Channel4.com/Paralympics between 1-4pm on Wednesday 25, Thursday 26 and Friday 27 May. Highlights of the previous day’s will also be broadcast on Channel 4 on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 May at 12 noon.

Rick Edwards will host a live two-hour BT Paralympic World Cup extravaganza on C4 from 12pm on Saturday 28 May, with swimming the centrepiece of the final day.

Eleanor Simmonds, Louise Watkin, Sam Hynd and Matthew Walker are among a host of top British names taking part, with overseas opposition led by Mallory Weggeman of the USA. Between races Channel 4 will broadcast a review of the athletics, basketball, volleyball and boccia events that took place earlier in the week.

Rick Edwards will be joined by double Paralympic gold medallist, Giles Long with commentary from Paul Noble and Karen Pickering.  Also part of the Channel 4 Paralympics team are Ronald McIntosh, Ade Adepitan and Simon Golding.

Tags: Channel 4, Eleanor Simmonds, Paralympics World Cup, Rick Edwards