Ireland’s Padraic Moran, won Gold yesterday in the BC1 Class at the World
Championships in Lisbon. The Bray local, sensationally beat home favourite
Portugal’s Joao Paolo Fernandez by a score of 3:2 in a thrilling final at
the Estádio Universitário in Lisbon’s University complex to take victory and
the Gold medal.
Speaking immediately after the event, an emotional Moran said,*“I feel numb
just now, I cannot believe it. It has been a lot of hard work since my first
international appearance in Rio back in 2006. Hopefully this is just a
stepping stone to next years World Cup in Belfast and the Paralympic Games
in London, 2012.” *
Moran got off to a slow start going down 2:0 to Fernandez in the first two
ends. Demonstrating extreme composure, Moran levelled the match at 2:2 going
into the final end and against a biased home crowd maintained his focus to
come out on top 3:2.
Moran, who finished 5th at the Beijing Paralympic Games, finished top of his
qualifying pool and a gruelling 8 games in three days later, claimed a semi
final place. Moran came through a nail biting semi final this morning
against Thailand’s Thinnakorn ThePdeang, ultimately winning out in a tie
break to set up a mouth watering final against the home favourite.
Team Manager Jacquie Connolly spoke of his success stating: *“I am delighted
for Padraic. This victory has come at just the right time for Padraic in
advance of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. He has come through the ranks,
learned his trade and deserves this accolade. He is a deserving World
Champion.”*
This is the end of a long Championship for Moran who earlier in the week led
the Irish team to a 4th place finish in the BC1/BC2 combined team
competition. Mallow’s Johnny Cronin and Tom Leahy from Ballyhooley both had
extremely credible World Championship performances also making the knockout
stages but were eliminated in the last 16 and last 32 respectively.
