By Graham Thomas
Brazil finished top of the medal table at the São Paulo 2026 World Boccia Cup with the host nation claiming two gold medals and a total of four podium finishes.
The Brazilian team secured the BC1/BC2 team title on the final day of competition, adding to Iuri Tauan’s (pic above) individual BC2 male gold medal to finish ahead of Portugal, who also won two titles.
The tournament, held at the Brazilian Paralympic Training Centre from 4-11 November, brought together athletes from 26 nations and was the second World Cup event held since the World Boccia Championships in Seoul.
Brazil’s final-day success came through a trio of Maciel Santos, Leila Maria Mello Alves and José Carlos Chagas, as they combined to beat Kazakhstan 10-2 in the BC1/BC2 team final.
There was further medal success for the hosts in the BC4 pairs competition, where Laissa Guerreira and Ivanildo Pereira de Souza took silver after losing 7-1 to Colombia in the final.
Brazil had already enjoyed a successful individual programme, with Iuri Tauan claiming the BC2 men’s title after beating Canada’s Danik Allard 5-1 in the final.
Tauan’s teammate and former Paralympic champion Maciel Santos completed a Brazilian double on the podium, taking bronze after defeating American Braden Murphy 14-0.
Portugal were the other major individual winners, with Ana Correia and Diogo Castro both becoming São Paulo champions.
Correia dominated the BC2 women’s final, beating Kazakhstan’s Itiana Shingiskhanova 6-0, while Castro secured the BC3 men’s title with a 6-4 victory over Greece’s Grigorios Polychronidis.
The other individual gold medals went to Croatia’s Dora Basic (BC1 women), Kazakhstan’s Kuanysh Askarbekov (BC1 men), Argentina’s Stefania Ferrando (BC3 women), Malaysia’s Noor Askuzaimey Mat Salim (BC4 women) and Germany’s Boris Nicolai (BC4 men).
Noor continued her impressive international season after winning the BC4 women’s world championship in Seoul in September.
She defeated Canada’s Alison Levine 6-3 in the São Paulo final.
Spain also enjoyed an encouraging tournament, collecting four medals across the 11 competitions, although none were gold.
Juan Manuel Montilla – better known as rap musician ‘El Langui’ – was among the Spanish team’s leading performers.
He claimed individual silver in BC1 after reaching his first World Cup final, before adding a team bronze alongside Ainhoa Meñaka and Moha Soliman.
Spain’s BC1/BC2 team defeated France 11-2 in the bronze-medal match, while Laura Utrero Rico and Alejandro Díaz took silver in the BC3 pairs competition.
Montilla’s individual silver came after a final defeat against Kazakhstan’s Askarbekov.
The Spaniard, who has been competing in boccia for only two years, described the experience as extraordinary.
“It’s absolutely crazy and makes me appreciate even more all the work that goes on behind it. The truth is that it’s been an incredible championship – one of those that, as an athlete, helps you grow, learn and realise how far you’ve come,” he said.
Montilla’s two medals in Brazil brought his international career tally to seven, with the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games his longer-term ambition.
Great Britain also finished on the individual podium through Nicola Taylor, who won silver in BC1 women’s competition after losing 4-2 to Basic in the final.
The tournament produced a diverse spread of success, with 16 different nations winning medals across the 11 competitions.
Brazil and Portugal each claimed two gold medals, but the hosts finished ahead on silver medals.
Kazakhstan and Greece were also among the leading nations, while Spain collected the most silver medals with three.
The results carried extra weight with performances contributing towards international rankings and qualification ambitions for future major championships, including the Lima 2027 Parapan American Games.
Medal winners
| Category | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| BC1 Men | Kuanysh Askarbekov (Kazakhstan) | Juan Manuel Montilla (Spain) | Jovin Tan (Singapore) |
| BC1 Women | Dora Basic (Croatia) | Nicola Taylor (Great Britain) | Ailen Flores (Argentina) |
| BC2 Men | Iuri Tauan (Brazil) | Danik Allard (Canada) | Maciel Santos (Brazil) |
| BC2 Women | Ana Correia (Portugal) | Itiana Shingiskhanova (Kazakhstan) | Joselyn Michael Leon (Ecuador) |
| BC3 Men | Diogo Castro (Portugal) | Grigorios Polychronidis (Greece) | Aloysius Gan (Singapore) |
| BC3 Women | Stefania Ferrando (Argentina) | Laura Utrero Rico (Spain) | Dimitra Papadopoulou (Greece) |
| BC4 Men | Boris Nicolai (Germany) | Dorian Decarme (France) | Edilson Chica (Colombia) |
| BC4 Women | Noor Askuzaimey (Malaysia) | Alison Levine (Canada) | Karla Maritza Manuel (Mexico) |
| Category | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| BC3 Pairs | Greece | Spain | Portugal |
| BC4 Pairs | Colombia | Brazil | Germany |
| BC1/BC2 Team | Brazil | Kazakhstan | Spain |
All 11 competitions – 33 medals awarded.
| Position | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Brazil | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Portugal | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Kazakhstan | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Greece | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Argentina | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Colombia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Germany | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Croatia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Malaysia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Spain | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 11 | Canada | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | France | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Great Britain | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Singapore | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 15 | Ecuador | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | Mexico | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 11 | 11 | 11 | 33 |
