By Graham Thomas
The Pilsen 2026 World Boccia Challenger provided the first opportunity for many of the sport’s rising stars to test themselves in major international competition since the World Boccia Championships in Seoul.
Held from September 7-15, the first Challenger to be staged in the Czech Republic attracted athletes from 22 nations across four continents, with valuable world-ranking points available on the road to the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.
Turkey emerged as one of the strongest nations in Pilsen, collecting two individual gold medals and a bronze. Havva Alyurt (pictured above, right: Pic: Ceska Boccia) claimed the BC3 women’s title, while Öner Bozbiyik won BC3 men’s gold.
Alyurt’s success was reinforced by teammate Rabia Nur Boyraz, who took bronze in the women’s event.
Kazakhstan also enjoyed a successful tournament. Kuanysh Askarbekov won BC1 men’s gold, defeating Ukraine’s Volodymyr Roiko 10-0 in the final, while Itiana Shingiskhanova took the BC2 women’s title. Kazakhstan also added bronze in the BC1/BC2 team competition.
India produced two significant successes. Sandhya Bhumij won the BC1 women’s singles title, while India also emerged victorious in the BC3 pairs competition.
Spain were another nation to leave Pilsen with a singles champion, Iker Iglesias taking BC2 men’s gold. Laura Utrero Rico added silver in BC3 women, while Spain also finished runners-up in the BC3 pairs.
Great Britain’s leading performers were Tyler McLelland and Fiona Muirhead. McLelland won BC4 men’s gold, while Muirhead took silver in the women’s competition behind Croatia’s Katarina Strunjak.
Strunjak was one of the individual stories of the tournament. Having previously won silver at the Pajulahti and Cairo Challengers in 2026, the Croatian finally converted that consistency into gold in Pilsen.
Croatia also enjoyed success in the BC1/BC2 team event, with Dora Bašić, Martin Frković and Luka Wagner taking the title.
Slovenia demonstrated impressive depth. Enej Strazberger won silver in BC2 men, Klemen Kramžar was runner-up in BC3 men and Blaž Adamlje took BC4 men’s silver.
Israel also showed considerable strength across the individual events, with Bat-El Brightman-Ha’Cohen and Orel Yakoov winning silver medals and Nikita Prokopenko taking bronze. Israel then added another silver in the BC1/BC2 team competition.
For the hosts, Anna Vacková provided a particularly significant moment, winning BC1 women’s bronze — the Czech Republic’s first medal at its inaugural World Boccia Challenger.
Václav Herzinger also reached the BC3 men’s semi-finals before finishing fourth.
With Pilsen now complete, attention turns quickly to the next stop on the 2026 Challenger circuit.
The Olbia 2026 World Boccia Challenger in Italy begins on October 12 and runs until October 20, giving athletes another opportunity to build ranking points and carry momentum into the closing stages of the international season.
