Alan targets world glory after Euro joy

Alan Ash, from Wednesfield, was a member of the Great Britain team that triumphed at the 2015 European Championships in Finland last month.

And the 42-year-old, who has lifted the crown three times before, is now targeting global glory at the BT World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge.

The tournament, which will take place in London at the Copper Box Arena from October 12-16, features eight of the world's best sides.

London 2012 Paralympic gold medallists Australia will be the favourites for glory but they will have to overcome a formidable cast which includes silver medallists Canada and bronze medallists USA as well as New Zealand, South Africa, Japan and France.

Ash, a four-time Paralympian, is one of 11 players selected to represent Team GB at the event, which will run alongside the Rugby World Cup 2015.

And he said: "I am over the moon to have been chosen. It gets harder and harder as the years go by (to retain a place in the national team).

"There are some good young lads in and around the team and getting selected certainly isn't automatic.

"Hopefully I can play my part in helping the team to success and we will be giving it our best shot."

Having only just claimed the European crown, the tournament offers the team a chance to test themselves against the cream of the sport at world level ahead of the Paralympics 2016.

Team GB booked their place at the Rio de Janeiro games with their victory in Finland, having beaten Sweden by one point in a nerve-shredding final.

Ash said: "The last time we won the Europeans was in 2007 and we have been building the side back to get that top spot back.

"We didn't realise it would take so long, but it was nice to achieve it again and we are looking forward to another big test now in London."

Britain will have to overcome the odds to add World Rugby Challenge gold to their European trophy, but Ash is hopeful that home advantage will help them raise their game to a new level. He said: "The Copper Box is a fantastic arena and it is a rare occasion to have an able-bodied Rugby World Cup taking place in this country at the same time as the World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge.

"It is in London so hopefully we'll see some of the fans at our games, especially now that England have gone out of the Rugby World Cup.

Should Ash, pictured holding the European Championship trophy, and his team-mates finish in the top three, it would be the first triumph for the Wolverhampton-based athlete on the world stage.

Having come close to a Paralympic medal in Atlanta 96, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 spurs Ash on to try to change that in the coming 12 months.

He said: "I was in the teams that finished fourth in Atlanta, sixth in Sydney, fourth in Athens and fourth in Beijing.

"Finishing fourth, in particular, you have that carrot of a medal dangled tantalisingly in front of you and I am a stubborn git so I really want to achieve a world or Paralympic medal."

Ash, a former Royal Marine, is certainly putting the time in to reach that goal training 25 hours-a-week at the High Performance Centre at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium with the British team.

His gruelling fitness regime includes lots of conditioning and strength work as well as ball-handling drills.

Ash, who suffered a broken neck in a road crash in 1990, is used to the demanding rigours of the high-impact sport, in which teams of four players pass and move a volleyball around the court and have 40 seconds to cross the goalline with the ball.

He remembers feeling very different when first confronted with the fast and furious spectacle following his accident.

He said: "The coach of the national team came and had a chat with me when I was in the Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry. I think he knew I had a sporty background (Ash was once on the books at Wolves, Albion and Arsenal's youth teams), and he said 'come and have a go at it'.

"It was the last thing on my mind at the time but I went along and was petrified to see these guys smashing into each other. But something must have hooked me because I ended up going back, joined a local team and went straight into the national championships in 1991. I have not looked back since."

Ash plays his club rugby for Southport-based West Coast Crash and he is a former member of the now-defunct Wolverhampton Rhinos.

A world medal is all that is missing from his glittering collection after 23 years in the game. At the World Rugby Challenge he aims to complete that set.