Great Britain are through to the final of the European Wheelchair Championships after a comfortable win against Germany.
GB went into Saturday’s semi-final having won all three of their Pool B games and led from the start at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
They will now play either France or Denmark for the title on Sunday.
They are also guaranteed a place at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where they will attempt to defend their title.
The scoring came thick and fast in the Welsh capital, with Stuart Robinson and Marco Herbst proving the main goal threats.
The introduction of Aaron Phipps made an instant impact, with GB winning two turnovers and making two interceptions to take a five-point lead going in at the break.
The advantage was maintained in the second period, with Robinson and Herbst continuing to exchange tries, while Phipps’ aggressive defence once again resulted in turnover ball.
Germany’s Josco Wilke lived up to his reputation as one of the sport’s brightest young talents, showing great speed for a 2.0 classified player to cross three times.
GB came out firing after the break and extended their advantage by an extra two scores after winning turnover ball as Germany tried to run the clock down.
There was also a first try of the game for one of Germany’s two female players, Britta Kripke.
GB ran away with it in the final stages, with Coral Batey getting in on the tries on her 28th birthday.
There was also a score for Kieran Flynn as the hosts emptied their bench, while Germany’s Michael Volte made a late impact with three tries.
GB must now wait to see if Sunday’s final will be a repeat of last year’s, when they lost 44-43 to France, or Friday’s pool game against Denmark, which they won 52-45.
The top two teams are guaranteed a place at next summer’s Paralympic Games.
GB’s Stuart Robinson told BBC Sport Wales:
“It was an amazing game. We knew Germany were going to be tough opposition to play against, they move the ball really well and we knew we had to be at our best.
“We were quite lucky we were able to run a number of lines towards the end to get a number of guys some experience at this level.
“The stakes were a lot higher on this game, we knew qualification for Paris was on the line, but more importantly we are looking forward to getting to the final.
“We have been building something special and we can only try and carry that forward.”
GB: Jonathan Coggan, Daniel Kellett, Jack Smith, Nick Cummins, Coral Batey, Gavin Walker (capt), Kieran Flynn, Dave Ross, Jamie Stead, Aaron Phipps, Stuart Robinson.
Germany: Christian Riedel, Britta Kripke, Florian Bongart, Justus Heinrich, Jens Sauerbier, Josco Wilke, Steffen Wecke, Macha Mosel, Yves Maubach, Michael Volter, Marco Herbst (capt), Sebastian Cleem.
Source – BBC Sport
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