England blind women kick-off World Championship with win

The England women’s blind team kicked-off their IBSA World Championship campaign on Monday morning with a solid 2-0 victory over Poland in India.

The Para Lionesses played the first of their three group games at the tournament in the early hours UK time, with what proved to be a tight first half.

However, England came out for the second half with renewed vigour and they opened the scoring midway through the half. It was Megan Smithson-Booth who broke the deadlock, after collecting the ball from an indirect free-kick on the edge of the area before firing home a left-footer through a crowd of three defenders and the goalkeeper.

And Smithson-Booth doubled the advantage soon after, when she produced a neat turn on the halfway line before skilfully evading two defenders and finishing well with a shot through the keepers’ legs.

The Para Lionesses are back in action on Tuesday morning (4am BST), when they meet Brazil in their second game.

The Squad

Alicia Grimmond, Katie Christopher, Amelie Ford, Alice Hopkins, Lucja Wyrwantowicz, Natasha Mead, Selina Prieto, Samantha Gough, Megan Smithson-Booth, Maria Slade