IT was the equivalent of an athletics dip at the line, but it didn't make semi-final defeat in the BC4 pairs boccia competition any easier to take for Scottish siblings Stephen and Peter McGuire.
The Bellshill brothers opened their campaign on Sunday with an impressive 11-0 victory over Slovakia but then lost their second match 4-1 to Canada.
That meant a return to the ExCel yesterday for a must-win encounter with Thailand. The World Championship silver medallists were in commanding form, taking the match 8-0 to secure their place in the semi-finals against reigning Paralympic and world champions, Brazil.
The Brazilians struck first, but the McGuires battled back to lead Eliseu dos Santos and Jose Dirceu Pinto 2-1. But a place in the final was not to be as the Brazilians pulled through late on to triumph 3-2. The margin of victory was a matter of millimetres – three closer to the jack and the end result could have been very different – with Stephen revealing just how much so afterwards.
"It was a very tight match, it came down to millimetres in the end," said Stephen. "I am a little disappointed but we played really well. I am delighted that we played very consistent we were unlucky.
"The Brazilians said to us at the end that was the best match they have ever played and they said good luck and please bring back the bronze. They are the Paralympic champs and world champs and we took them that close.
"It was incredible. A match like that allows the crowd to get into it and truly understand how close boccia can be."
The brothers return to the ExCeL tomorrow for the bronze-medal match where they will face their conquerors from the pool stages, Canada, who lost their semi-final after a tie-break with the Czech Republic.
"We are playing well and on another day we would have won," added Stephen. "We will approach the bronze-medal match in the same way."
Scott McCowan's hopes of a medal as part of Britain's BC3 pairs team were ended on Sunday, but that didn't stop him contributing to a 9-1 win over Canada.
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