Peterborough couple win silver medals for Great Britain in women’s Bandy World Championship

It's hoped the silver medal win will inspire a new generation of winter sports enthusiasts
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A Peterborough woman and her assistant coach fiance have won silver medals at the Bandy World Championships in Sweden.

Clare Ledbury, 32, from Bretton, won silver while competing in the first ever Great British women’s bandy team in Åby last week.

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Her fiance, Tom Parker, 41, was with the team every step of the way - as assistant coach.

The team are hoping their success inspires a new generation and sparks interest in the sport.The team are hoping their success inspires a new generation and sparks interest in the sport.
The team are hoping their success inspires a new generation and sparks interest in the sport.

“I am so proud to announce we have brought home silver medals for our country,” Mr Parker said.

“The team had an absolutely incredible week - winning all our games in group b. In the final, a tight game meant neither team could score within the 60-minute game - which meant we were faced with sudden death overtime where only one golden goal would count."

The Great British women’s bandy team won all three of their group games to progress to the semi-finals.

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They beat Switzerland 9-0 in the semi-final - before losing 1-0 in overtime against the Netherlands in the final.

The women's Great British bandy team have brought home the silverwear after competing at the world championships in Sweden.The women's Great British bandy team have brought home the silverwear after competing at the world championships in Sweden.
The women's Great British bandy team have brought home the silverwear after competing at the world championships in Sweden.

Bandy is a winter sport, which is played with a ball instead of a puck, and involves two teams wearing ice skates using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.

One of the recognised birthplaces of the sport is Bury Fen, in Cambridgeshire, which is the former home of Bury Fen Bandy Club, which closed in 1901. Now, it's the current base of the Great Britain Bandy Association.

Miss Ledbury said: "Being part of the first ever Great Britain’s women's bandy team has been an incredible privilege. Bringing back silver medals for our country has been the proudest moment of my life.

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"I hope we've shown what an amazing sport bandy is and I hope our determination and success has inspired and enthused both women, men and children to want to have a go.

"We will continue working hard to raise awareness of our British born sport and working towards obtaining funding so we can continue training and keeping bandy alive. "

Mr Parker hopes that by competing at the world championships the Great British women’s bandy team will have raised awareness of the sport - inspiring the next generation of bandy players.

“Going forward, we want to continue raising awareness of bandy as well as actively growing participation in the sport,” he said.

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“Sadly, like many sports, we are faced with a financial barrier. We will be actively looking for potential sponsors who want to help us reignite bandy in the UK and allow us to hold training sessions.

“This would also allow both our national men and women’s team to continue training so that in the next world championships we can be even better than before - and bring home gold.”

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