Kiwi duo prosper at global Wheelchair rugby tournament - Paralympics New Zealand
A pair of Kiwi Wheelchair rugby players excelled at the fourth edition of the Women’s Cup in Paris earlier this month by securing team victory and also landing prestigious individual awards.
New Zealand duo Maia Marshall-Amai and Jacinta Richardson featured for the victorious Team Energie Solutions – a composite collection of players from four different nations – who triumphed with a 100 per cent winning record across their four games.
While both players enjoyed team success, the pair were further rewarded as Auckland-based Maia – a 2.0pt player (the lower point players have lesser functional ability than the higher point players) – caught the eye by banking the overall Most Valuable Player (MVP) prize and Jacinta the MVP specific to the 3.5pt classification.
On the Paralympic Games stage Wheelchair rugby has traditionally been a mixed event (men and women compete on the same team) but the fourth edition of the Women’s Cup – staged at the Champ de Mars Arena – pointed to the growing strength in depth of the women’s game.
The first edition of the competition held in 2015 featured just 12 players but the fourth iteration earlier this month marked a significant milestone as it starred 60 female players with eight teams – Brazil, Spain, Ireland, Great Britain, USA and France and two composite teams Energie Solutions and Atout Coeur Team – competing across the four-day competition.
Maia, who also appeared in the 2017 and 2023 competitions, said: “It is great to get the chance to compete in a women-only competition. We are not built the same as men, we don’t have the same muscles and no matter how hard we train we are not equal.
“We played in the same stadium where the wheelchair rugby took place at the Paralympics, it was cool. I did not compete there for the Paralympics (in Paris 2024) but to get there for a different occasion was really special.”
