Joe Coyd feels like a kid at Christmas as he counts down the hours to being part of England wheelchair side’s big World Cup kick-off.
His country’s most-capped player, he lines up as they take on Australia tonight in the sold-out London Copper Box Arena. For the first time, the wheelchair World Cup takes place alongside the men’s and women’s events and it’s been years in the making. Kent-born Coyd, 25, has been playing since the age of ten.
Speaking to the Mirror last night, he said: “It’s been a while getting here. There’s a couple who have played longer than me but it's a pretty special journey to get to this point as a group and as a sport. It’s amazing. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve, not knowing whether to go to bed because I know it’ll come quicker and it’ll be Christmas or stay up because it’s so exciting thinking about it! It’s been five years since the last World Cup when we lost in the final and that was my second World Cup final loss. I’m 100 per cent certain we can change that now.”
